5 Del. C. § 918
This is the official text of 5 Del. C. § 918, part of Delaware’s Del. C — part of the compiled statutory law of Delaware, published by the state as "Del. C." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
§ Â 918. Limitations on pledging or hypothecating assets.
Official statutory text
(a) No bank or trust company shall pledge or hypothecate any of its assets except to undertake any of the following:
(1) To secure any borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability in an aggregate amount up to but not exceeding the amount of its capital and surplus actually paid in and undiminished by losses or otherwise.
(2) To secure any borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability in an amount in excess of the limitation of paragraph (a)(1) of this section upon written consent of the State Bank Commissioner.
(3) To secure any borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability, in addition to the amounts specified in paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section, for the purpose of buying United States bonds, United States Treasury certificates, or notes or obligations of the United States or any United States government agency, and in such case the consent of the State Bank Commissioner shall not be required.
(4) To qualify itself to receive deposits of money of the United States or any United States government agency.
(5) To qualify itself to receive deposits of money of the State or any political subdivision or municipality thereof.
(6) To qualify itself to exercise any of the powers of a trust company or to act in any fiduciary capacity; provided, however, that assets pledged in accordance with this subsection shall not be counted for purposes of satisfying the minimum capital stock and paid-in surplus required to be maintained by any bank, trust company or limited purpose trust company pursuant to § 745 of this title.
(b) No bank or trust company shall repledge or rehypothecate any property held by it or delivered to its account in pledge or hypothecation as collateral which belongs to any other corporation or person, unless such property is accompanied by the obligation of the original borrower from, or counterparty to, the institution.
(c) No borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability entered into in contravention of this section shall be rendered illegal for this cause as against the lender, creditor, or holder thereof, but the bank or trust company shall be subject to appropriate proceedings by the State Bank Commissioner for a violation of law.
(d) Any savings bank or savings society doing business in this State may borrow money, and may secure the same by the assignment or pledge of any mortgage, mortgages, bonds, or other assets held by said savings bank or savings society, provided that the amount borrowed from all sources shall not at any time exceed in the aggregate 25% of the amount set aside for surplus and reserves. The amounts borrowed from all sources shall at all times, irrespective of whether or not the same are secured, constitute a preferred claim superior to all other claims on the assets of said savings bank or savings society. Provided, however, that any savings bank or savings society may borrow in excess of the 25% limitation set out above on written approval by the State Bank Commissioner.
(e) The limitation on pledges and hypothecations in paragraph (a)(1) of this section and the limitation on repledges and rehypothecations in subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any pledge, hypothecation, repledge, or rehypothecation by a bank or trust company supervised by a federal banking agency if the pledge, hypothecation, repledge, or rehypothecation is permitted under applicable federal law or regulations or orders promulgated thereunder by the federal banking agency.
(1) To secure any borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability in an aggregate amount up to but not exceeding the amount of its capital and surplus actually paid in and undiminished by losses or otherwise.
(2) To secure any borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability in an amount in excess of the limitation of paragraph (a)(1) of this section upon written consent of the State Bank Commissioner.
(3) To secure any borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability, in addition to the amounts specified in paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section, for the purpose of buying United States bonds, United States Treasury certificates, or notes or obligations of the United States or any United States government agency, and in such case the consent of the State Bank Commissioner shall not be required.
(4) To qualify itself to receive deposits of money of the United States or any United States government agency.
(5) To qualify itself to receive deposits of money of the State or any political subdivision or municipality thereof.
(6) To qualify itself to exercise any of the powers of a trust company or to act in any fiduciary capacity; provided, however, that assets pledged in accordance with this subsection shall not be counted for purposes of satisfying the minimum capital stock and paid-in surplus required to be maintained by any bank, trust company or limited purpose trust company pursuant to § 745 of this title.
(b) No bank or trust company shall repledge or rehypothecate any property held by it or delivered to its account in pledge or hypothecation as collateral which belongs to any other corporation or person, unless such property is accompanied by the obligation of the original borrower from, or counterparty to, the institution.
(c) No borrowing, guarantee, credit exposure, or other potential liability entered into in contravention of this section shall be rendered illegal for this cause as against the lender, creditor, or holder thereof, but the bank or trust company shall be subject to appropriate proceedings by the State Bank Commissioner for a violation of law.
(d) Any savings bank or savings society doing business in this State may borrow money, and may secure the same by the assignment or pledge of any mortgage, mortgages, bonds, or other assets held by said savings bank or savings society, provided that the amount borrowed from all sources shall not at any time exceed in the aggregate 25% of the amount set aside for surplus and reserves. The amounts borrowed from all sources shall at all times, irrespective of whether or not the same are secured, constitute a preferred claim superior to all other claims on the assets of said savings bank or savings society. Provided, however, that any savings bank or savings society may borrow in excess of the 25% limitation set out above on written approval by the State Bank Commissioner.
(e) The limitation on pledges and hypothecations in paragraph (a)(1) of this section and the limitation on repledges and rehypothecations in subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any pledge, hypothecation, repledge, or rehypothecation by a bank or trust company supervised by a federal banking agency if the pledge, hypothecation, repledge, or rehypothecation is permitted under applicable federal law or regulations or orders promulgated thereunder by the federal banking agency.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Delaware?
Find a Delaware lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.