xXTheoryXx
Moderator
Moderator
Speaker of the House
Representative
Commerce Department
Construction & Transport Department
xXTheoryXx
Speaker
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2026
- Messages
- 226
- Thread Author
- #1
CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
A BILL TO
Establish the Bank of the Commonwealth as a state-owned corporation providing public retail banking, independent of the Federal Reserve Bank
The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:
1. Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Bank of the Commonwealth Act'.
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by Speaker of the House xXTheoryXx.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Deputy President of the Senate TrueDarkLander.
(5) This Act amends the following acts:
(a) Legal Entity Act
2. Reasons and Intent
(1) Residents of Redmont, particularly newcomers and those without access to a private bank, lack a safe and simple public option for holding money.
(2) Operating a public retail bank directly out of the Federal Reserve Bank would overextend a central bank's purpose and overwhelm its limited transaction-processing capacity, where balance access is restricted to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
(3) Establishing a separate state-owned corporation with its own staff, permissions, and accounts resolves this bottleneck, keeps the central bank focused on its mandate, and gives the public a properly resourced national bank.
3. Definitions
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) National Bank, or "the Bank". The state-owned corporation established under this Act, operating under the name "Bank of the Commonwealth".
(b) FRB. The Federal Reserve Bank of Redmont.
(c) Department. The Department of Commerce.
(d) Board. The Board of Directors of the National Bank established under Section 6.
(e) Retail Account. A deposit account held by an individual citizen with the National Bank.
(f) Eligible Person. Any natural person who is a registered citizen of the Commonwealth of Redmont.
(g) LEA. The Legal Entity Act.
PART II — ESTABLISHMENT
4. Establishment and Status
(1) There is hereby established the Bank of the Commonwealth as a state-owned corporation, wholly owned by the Commonwealth of Redmont.
(2) The Bank is a distinct entity from the FRB and shall maintain its own accounts, balances, and books separate from those of the FRB.
(3) The Bank may sue and be sued, hold property, and contract in its own name in accordance with the powers granted to legal entities under LEA Part I Section 1(2).
(4) The Bank is a governmental entity within the meaning of the LEA Part II, formed by this Act as law in accordance with LEA Part II Section 1(1)(b).
(5) Notwithstanding LEA Part II Section 1(3), the Bank shall not be exempt from taxation imposed upon registered financial institutions by any Act of Congress, including but not limited to the Banking Income Tax Act and any succeeding acts.
5. Mandate
(1) The Bank shall provide simple, secure deposit accounts and basic banking services to Eligible Persons.
(2) The Bank shall operate on a not-for-profit basis, charging only such fees as are necessary to cover its operating costs.
(3) The Bank shall hold client deposits in full and shall not engage in lending or speculative investment except as expressly authorised by a future Act of Congress.
PART III — GOVERNANCE AND STAFFING
6. Board of Directors
(1) The Bank shall be governed by a Board of Directors, chaired by a Managing Director.
(2) The Managing Director shall be appointed by a simple majority vote of both chambers of Congress.
(3) The Managing Director shall be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Bank.
(4) Prior to appointment, the Managing Director candidate shall submit a full financial disclosure in accordance with the Conflict of Interest Standards Act, including any interest in, ownership of, or executive role in any financial institution.
(5) The Board shall set the Bank's policies, fees, and account terms consistent with this Act.
(6) For the purposes of LEA Part II Section 1(4), the Managing Director shall be the director of the Bank.
(7) The Board and each of its members shall be subject to the fiduciary duty obligations set out in LEA Part III Section 3, applied with necessary modifications to a governmental entity.
7. Staff and Permissions
(1) The Managing Director may hire staff, as a recognised government job or jobs, to operate the Bank and process customer transactions.
(2) Bank staff shall be granted the in-game permissions necessary to process deposits, withdrawals, and transfers for the Bank's own accounts, independent of the FRB's balance permissions.
(3) Permissions granted under this Section shall extend only to the Bank's own accounts and shall not grant access to FRB balances.
(4) All staff of the Bank shall be agents of the Bank within the meaning of LEA Part I Section 3(s) and shall be subject to the agency provisions of that Act accordingly.
(5) No staff member of the Bank, including the Managing Director, shall hold any ownership interest, directorship, officership, or other executive position in any private deposit-taking financial institution registered under the Banking Act or any succeeding acts, for the duration of their employment at the Bank.
(6) Any staff member who acquires such an interest or position after appointment shall divest or resign from that position within 14 days. Failure to do so shall result in immediate termination from the Bank.
PART IV — BANKING OPERATIONS
8. Eligibility and Accounts
(1) Any Eligible Person may open one Retail Account with the Bank.
(2) The Bank shall not deny an account to any Eligible Person except where required by a court order, a sanctions ruling, or an order of the Department.
(3) Retail Accounts shall offer, at a minimum, the ability to deposit funds, withdraw funds, and transfer funds to other accounts.
9. Deposits and Backing
(1) All funds deposited in Retail Accounts shall be backed in full and shall be available for withdrawal on demand.
(2) The Bank shall hold its reserves on deposit at the FRB in accordance with applicable reserve requirements.
(3) The Board may set and publish a per-account balance cap to keep the Bank focused on retail use.
(4) The Bank's status as a governmental entity confers no tax exemption on its depositors. Any taxes that may be applicable to a depositor under any Act of Congress shall remain the individual liability of that depositor and are not reduced, deferred, or extinguished by virtue of the funds being held at the Bank.
(5) For the avoidance of doubt, a depositor may not rely on the Bank's governmental entity status or any tax exemption granted to the Bank to avoid or reduce their own personal tax obligations.
10. Interest and Fees
(1) The Board may pay interest on Retail Account balances at a published rate, provided the Bank remains not-for-profit.
(2) Any fees shall be published in advance and shall not exceed the cost of providing the service.
PART V — STARTER LOAN PROGRAM
11. Purpose and Eligibility
(1) The Bank shall administer a Starter Loan Program to provide interest-free loans to new players during their first period of play in the Commonwealth.
(2) An Eligible Borrower is a player who:
(a) Has no less than 6 and no more than 48 hours of total playtime; and
(b) Has not previously received a Starter Loan under this Act.
(3) No player may hold more than one Starter Loan at any time.
12. Loan Terms
(1) The Bank shall offer one Starter Loan to each Eligible Borrower on application.
(2) The principal of a Starter Loan shall not exceed $5,000, as set and published by the Board from time to time.
(3) A Starter Loan shall carry 0% interest for its full term.
(4) Repayment shall be made in equal instalments over 60 days, beginning 14 days after disbursement.
13. Default and Recovery
(1) A Starter Loan is in default after 14 consecutive days of missed payment. The Bank shall issue a 3-day notice to the borrower before commencing any recovery action.
(2) The Bank may recover any outstanding balance through standard collection procedures. No criminal liability attaches to a good-faith default.
(3) If a borrower has been inactive for 30 or more consecutive days, the outstanding loan balance becomes immediately due and the Bank may recover it from the borrower's in-game balance without further notice.
(4) Where a borrower is subject to the Pruning Tax under the Taxation Act, any outstanding Starter Loan balance shall be deducted from the pruned balance and returned to the Bank before the remainder is transferred to the DCGovernment account.
(5) Where the borrower's balance is insufficient to satisfy the outstanding loan in full at the time of recovery under subsections (3) or (4), the Bank shall recover whatever balance is available and write off the remainder as a loss.
14. Funding and Reporting
(1) Starter Loans shall be funded from the Bank's own capitalised funds as appropriated by Congress under Section 15.
(2) The Bank shall include in its monthly report under Section 16 the number and value of Starter Loans issued, the repayment rate, and any losses recorded in that period.
PART VI — FINANCES AND OVERSIGHT
15. Capitalisation and Finances
(1) The Bank shall be capitalised by such funds as Congress appropriates for that purpose.
(2) The Bank shall maintain its own accounting records, separate from the FRB and from the general government accounts.
(3) Any net surplus remaining after the Bank has met its operating costs, loan obligations, and reserve requirements at the end of each taxation period shall be transferred to the DCGovernment account.
(4) The Board shall document and report any surplus transfer under subsection (3) in the Bank's monthly report under Section 16.
16. Oversight and Reporting
(1) The Bank shall be subject to oversight by the Department in the same manner as other financial institutions, including the administrative sanctions and enforcement powers available to the Department under LEA Part VII.
(2) The Board shall publish the Bank's aggregate balances and account totals no less than once per month.
17. Regulations
(1) The Board may issue regulations to give effect to this Act, including rules on account opening, balance caps, interest, fees, and account closure.
(2) Regulations issued under this Act shall be consistent with this Act and shall be published before taking effect.
PART VII — CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
18. Amendment of the Legal Entity Act
(1) Part II Section 1(5) of the Legal Entity Act is amended as follows:
(5) For the avoidance of doubt, the existing entities are:
(a) The executive departments;
(i) The Secretary of a department is the director of that department.
(b) Towns;
(c) Town departments and other entities created by a town bylaw or constitution;
(d) The Federal Reserve Bank
(i) All members of the FRB Board shall be considered directors of that public entity.
(e) The Judiciary
(i) The judiciary shall be regarded as a single governmental entity
(ii) All justices of the Supreme Court shall be directors of the governmental entity
(f) The House of Representatives
(i) The Speaker of the House shall be the director of the House of Representatives.
(g) The Senate
(i) The President of the Senate shall be the director of the Senate.
(h) Congress
(i) The presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the Senate are the directors of Congress.
(i) The Bank of the Commonwealth; the Managing Director appointed under the Bank of the Commonwealth Act shall be the director of the National Bank.
(j) Any other existing entities defined by the avenues of governmental entity formation.
