12 U.S.C. § 2015 — General corporate powers

Each Farm Credit Bank shall be a body corporate and, subject to regulation by the Farm Credit Administration, shall have power to— (1) adopt and use a corporate seal; (2) have succession until dissolved under the provisions of this chapter or other Act of Congress; (3) make contracts; (4) sue and be sued; (5) acquire, hold, dispose, and otherwise exercise all the usual incidents of ownership of real and personal property necessary or convenient to its business; (6) make, participate in, and discount loans, make commitments for credit, accept advance payments, and provide services as authorized in this chapter, and charge fees for such; (7) operate under the direction of its board of directors; (8) provide by its board of directors for a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, and provide for such other officers, employees, and agents as may be necessary, as provided in this chapter, define their duties, and require surety bonds or make other provision against losses occasioned by employees; (9) prescribe, by its board of directors, its bylaws that shall be consistent with law, and that shall provide for— (A) the classes of its stock and the manner in which such stock shall be issued, transferred, and retired; and (B) the manner in which it is to— (i) select officers, employees, and agents; (ii) acquire, hold, and transfer property; (iii) make loans and discounts; (iv) conduct general business; and (v) exercise and enjoy the privileges granted to it by law; (10) borrow money and issue notes, bonds, debentures, or other obligations individually, or in concert with one or more other banks of the System, of such character, terms, conditions, and rates of interest as may be determined as provided for in this chapter; (11) purchase nonvoting stock in, or pay in surplus to, and accept deposits of securities or funds from associations in its district, and pay interest on such funds; (12) participate with— (A) one or more other Farm Credit Banks in loans under this subchapter on such terms as may be agreed on among such banks; (B) one or more other Farm Credit System institutions in loans made under this subchapter or other subchapters of this chapter on the basis prescribed in [section 2206 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title12-section2206&num=0&edition=prelim); and (C) lenders that are not Farm Credit System institutions in loans that the bank is authorized to make under this subchapter; (13) approve the salary scale of the officers and employees of the associations in its district and supervise the exercise by such associations of the functions vested in or delegated to them; (14) deposit the securities and current funds of the bank with any member bank of the Federal Reserve System or any insured State nonmember bank (within the meaning of [section 1813 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title12-section1813&num=0&edition=prelim)) and pay fees and receive interest on such as may be agreed, and when designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury, such bank— (A) shall be a depository of public money, except receipts from customs, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary; (B) may be employed as a fiscal agent of the Government; and (C) shall perform all such reasonable duties as a depository of public money or financial agent of the Government as may be required of such bank; except that no Government funds deposited under the provisions of this paragraph shall be invested in loans or bonds or other obligations of the bank; (15) buy and sell obligations of, or insured by, the United States or any agency thereof, or securities backed by the full faith and credit of any such agency, and make other investments as may be authorized under regulations issued by the Farm Credit Administration; (16) sell to lenders that are not Farm Credit System institutions interests in loans, and buy from and sell to Farm Credit System institutions interests in loans and other extensions of credit, and nonvoting stock as may be authorized under regulations issued by the Farm Credit Administration; (17) conduct studies and make and adopt standards for lending; (18) delegate to associations such functions as the bank determines appropriate; (19) amend and modify loan contracts, documents, and payment schedules, and release, subordinate, or substitute security for any of such items; (20) for loans made by the bank, require associations to endorse notes and other obligations of borrowers from the bank; (21) exercise through the board of directors or authorized officers, employees, or agents of the bank, all such incidental powers as may be necessary or expedient to carry on the business of the bank; (22) accept contributions to the capital of the bank from associations and account for such in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, except as may be authorized by the Farm Credit Administration; (23) as may be authorized by the board of directors of the bank, agree with other Farm Credit System institutions to share loan and other losses, whether to protect against capital impairment or for any other purpose; and (24) operate as an originator and become certified as a certified facility under subchapter VIII.