corporate seal; to make contracts; to lease such real estate as may be necessary for the transaction of its business; to sue and be sued, to complain and to defend, in any court of competent jurisdiction, State or Federal; to select, employ, and fix the compensation of such officers, employees, attorneys, and agents as shall be necessary for the transaction of the business of the corporation, without regard to the provisions of other laws applicable to the employment and compensation of officers or employees of the United States; to define their authority and duties, require bonds of them and fix the penalties thereof, and to dismiss at pleasure such officers, employees, attorneys, and agents; and to prescribe, amend, and repeal, by its board of directors, by-laws, rules, and regulations governing the manner in which its general business may be conducted and the powers granted to it by law may be exercised and enjoyed, including the selection of its chairman and vice chairman, together with provision for such committees and the functions thereof as the board of directors may deem necessary for facilitating its business under this Act. The board of directors of the corporation shall determine and prescribe the manner in which its obligations shall be incured and its expenses allowed and paid. The corporation shall be entitled to the free use of the United States mails in the same manner as the executive departments of the Government. The corporation, with the consent of any board, commission, independent establishment, or executive department of the Government, including any field service thereof, may avail itself of the use of information, services, facilities, officers, and employees thereof in carrying out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 5. To aid in financing agriculture, commerce, and industry, including facilitating the exportation of agricultural and other products the corporation is authorized and empowered to make loans, upon such terms and conditions not inconsistent with this Act as it may determine, to any bank, savings bank, trust company, building and loan association, insurance company, mortgage loan company, credit union, Federal land bank, joint-stock land bank, Federal intermediate credit bank, agricultural credit corporation, livestock credit corporation, organized under the laws of any State or of the United States, including loans secured by the assets of any bank that is closed, or in process of liquidation to aid in the reorganization or liquidation of such banks, upon application of the receiver or liquidating agent of such bank and any receiver of any national bank is hereby authorized to contract for such loans and to pledge any assets of the bank for securing the same: Provided, That not more than $200,000,000 shall be used for the relief of banks that are closed or in the process of liquidation.

All loans made under the foregoing provisions shall be fully and adequately secured. The corporation, under such conditions as it shall prescribe, may take over or provide for the administration and liquidation of any collateral accepted by it as security for such loans. Such loans may be made directly upon promissory notes or by way of discount or rediscount of obligations tendered for the purpose, or otherwise in such form and in such amount and at such interest or discount rates as the corporation may approve: Provided, That no loans or advances shall be made upon foreign securities or foreign acceptances as collateral or for the purpose of assisting in the carrying or liquidation of such foreign securities and foreign acceptances. In no case shall the aggregate amount of advances made under this section to any one corporation and its subsidiary or affiliated organizations exceed at any one time 5 per

centum of (1) the authorized capital stock of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation plus (2) the aggregate amount of bonds of the corporation authorized to be outstanding when the capital stock is fully subscribed.

Each such loan may be made for a period not exceeding three years, and the corporation may from time to time extend the time of payment of any such loan, through renewal, substitution of new obligations, or otherwise, but the time for such payment shall not be extended beyond five years from the date upon which such loan was made originally. Except as provided in section 5a hereof, no loan or advancement shall be made by the corporation for the purpose of initiating, setting on foot, or financing any enterprise not initiated, set on foot, or undertaken prior to the adoption of this Act: Provided, That the foregoing limitation shall not apply to loans made to agricultural or livestock credit corporations, or Federal land banks, joint-stock land banks, or Federal intermediate credit banks, nor to loans made to banks for the purpose of financing agricultural operations. The corporation may make loans under this section at any time prior to the expiration of one year from the date of the enactment hereof; and the President may from time to time postpone such date of expiration for such additional period or periods as he may deem necessary, not to exceed two years from the date of the enactment hereof. Within the foregoing limitations of this section, the corporation may also, upon the approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission, make loans to aid in the temporary financing of railroads and railways engaged in interstate commerce, to railroads and railways in process of construction, and to receivers of such railroads and railways, when in the opinion of the board of directors of the corporation such railroads or railways are unable to obtain funds upon reasonable terms through banking channels or from the general public and the corporation will be adequately secured: Provided, That no fee or commission shall be paid by any applicant for a loan under the provisions hereof in connection with any such application or any loan made or to be made hereunder, and the agreement to pay or payment of any such fee or commission shall be unlawful. Any such railroad may obligate itself in such form as shall be prescribed and otherwise comply with the requirements of the Interstate Commerce Commission and the corporation with respect to the deposit or assignment of security hereunder, without the authorization or approval of any authority, State or Federal, and without compliance with any requirement, State or Federal, as to notification, other than such as may be imposed by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the corporation under the provisions of this section.

SEC. 5a. The corporation is authorized and empowered to accept drafts and bills of exchange drawn upon it which grow out of transactions involving the exportation of agricultural or other products actually sold or transported for sale subsequent to the enactment hereof and in process of shipment to buyers in foreign countries: Provided, That the corporation shall not make any such acceptances growing out of transactions involving the sale or shipment of armaments, munitions, or other war materials, or the sale or shipment into countries which are at war of any merchandise or commodities except food and supplies for the actual use of noncombatants. No bill of exchange or draft shall be eligible for acceptance if such bill shall have at time of acceptance a maturity of more than twelve months. All drafts and bills of exchange accepted under this section shall be in terms payable in the United States, in currency of the United States, and

in addition to the draft or bill of exchange shall at all times be fully secured by American securities deposited as collateral or shall be guaranteed by a bank or trust company of undoubted solvency organized under the laws of the United States or any State, Territory, or insular possession thereof: Provided, That such securities shall not include goods stored or in process of shipment in foreign countries or the obligation of any foreign government, corporation, firm, or person.

SEC. 6. Section 5202 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended, is hereby amended by striking out the words "War Finance Corporation Act" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act."

SEC. 7. All moneys of the corporation not otherwise employed may be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States subject to check by authority of the corporation or in any Federal reserve bank, or may, by authorization of the board of directors of the corporation, be used in the purchase for redemption and retirement of any notes, debentures, bonds, or other obligations issued by the corporation, and the corporation may reimburse such Federal reserve bank for their services in the manner as may be agreed upon. The Federal reserve banks are authorized and directed to act as depositaries, custodians, and fiscal agents for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the general performance of its powers conferred by this Act.

SEC. 8. In order to enable the corporation to carry out the provisions of this Act, the Treasury Department, the Federal Farm Loan Board, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal reserve banks, and the Interstate Commerce Commission are hereby authorized, under such conditions as they may prescribe, to make available to the corporation, in confidence, such reports, records, or other information as they may have available relating to the condition of financial institutions and railroads or railways with respect to which the corporation has had or contemplates having transactions under this Act, or relating to individuals, associations, partnerships, or corporations whose obligations are offered to or held by the corporation as security for loans to financial institutions or railroads or railways under this Act, and to make through their examiners or other employees for the confidential use of the corporation, examinations of such financial institutions or railroads and railways. Every applicant for a loan under this Act shall, as a condition precedent thereto, consent to such examinations as the corporation may require for the purposes of this Act and that reports of examinations by constituted authorities may be furnished by such authorities to the corporation upon request therefor.

SEC. 9. The corporation is authorized and empowered, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to issue, and to have outstanding at any one time in an amount aggregating not more than three times its subscribed capital, its notes, debentures, bonds, or other such obligations; such obligations to mature not more than five years from their respective dates of issue, to be redeemable at the option of the corporation before maturity in such manner as may be stipulated in such obligations, and to bear such rate or rates of interest as may be determined by the corporation: Provided, That the corporation, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may sell on a discount basis short-term obligations payable at maturity without interest. The notes, debentures, bonds, and other obligations of the corporation may be secured by assets of the corporation in such manner as shall be prescribed by its board of directors: Provided,

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That the aggregate of all obligations issued under this section shall not exceed three times the amount of the subscribed capital stock. Such obligations may be issued in payment of any loan authorized by this Act or may be offered for sale at such price or prices as the corporation may determine with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. The said obligations shall be fully and unconditionally guaranteed both as to interest and principal by the United States and such guaranty shall be expressed on the face thereof. In the event that the corporation shall be unable to pay upon demand, when due, the principal of or interest on notes, debentures, bonds, or other such obligations issued by it, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay the amount thereof, which is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and thereupon to the extent of the amounts so paid the Secretary of the Treasury shall succeed to all the rights of the holders of such notes, debentures, bonds, or other obligations. The Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion, is authorized to purchase any obligations of the corporation to be issued hereunder, and for such purpose the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to use as a public-debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any securities hereafter issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as amended, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as amended, are extended to include any purchases of the corporation's obligations hereunder. The Secretary of the Treasury may, at any time, sell any of the obligations of the corporation acquired by him under this section. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of the obligations of the corporation shall be treated as public-debt transactions of the United States. Such obligations shall not be eligible for discount or purchase by any Federal reserve bank.

SEC. 10. Any and all notes, debentures, bonds, or other such obligations issued by the corporation shall be exempt both as to principal and interest from all taxation (except surtaxes, estate, inheritance, and gift taxes) now or hereafter imposed by the United States, by any Territory, dependency, or possession thereof, or by any State, county, municipality, or local taxing authority. The corporation, including its franchise, its capital, reserves, and surplus, and its income shall be exempt from all taxation now or hereafter imposed by the United States, by any Territory, dependency, or possession thereof, or by any State, county, municipality, or local taxing authority; except that any real property of the corporation shall be subject to State, Territorial, county, municipal, or local taxation to the same extent according to its value as other real property is taxed.

SEC. 11. In order that the corporation may be supplied with such forms of notes, debentures, bonds, or other such obligations as it may need for issuance under this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to prepare such forms as shall be suitable and approved by the corporation, to be held in the Treasury subject to delivery, upon order of the corporation. The engraved plates, dies, bed pieces, and so forth, executed in connection therewith shall remain in the custody of the Secretary of the Treasury. The corporation shall reimburse the Secretary of the Treasury for any expenses incurred in the preparation, custody, and delivery of such notes, debentures, bonds, or other obligations.

SEC. 12. When designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury, the corporation shall be a depositary of public money, except receipts from customs, under such regulations as may be prescribed by said Secretary; and it may also be employed as a financial agent of the

Government; and it shall perform all such reasonable duties, as depositary of public money and financial agent of the Government, as may be required of it. Obligations of the corporation shall be lawful investments, and may be accepted as security, for all fiduciary, trust, and public funds the investment or deposit of which shall be under the authority or control of the United States or any officer or officers thereof.

SEC. 13. Upon the expiration of the period of one year within which the corporation may make loans, or of any extension thereof by the President under the authority of this Act, the board of directors of the corporation shall, except as otherwise herein specifically authorized, proceed to liquidate its assets and wind up its affairs. It may with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury deposit with the Treasurer of the United States as a special fund any money belonging to the corporation or from time to time received by it in the course of liquidation or otherwise, for the payment of principal and interest of its outstanding obligations or for the purpose of redemption of such obligations in accordance with the terms thereof, which fund may be drawn upon or paid out for no other purpose. The corporation may also at any time pay to the Treasurer of the United States as miscellaneous receipts any money belonging to the corporation or from time to time received by it in the course of liquidation or otherwise in excess of reasonable amounts reserved to meet its requirements during liquidation. Upon such deposit being made, such amount of the capital stock of the corporation as may be specified by the corporation with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury but not exceeding in par value the amount so paid in shall be canceled and retired. Any balance remaining after the liquidation of all the corporation's assets and after provision has been made for payment of all legal obligations of any kind and character shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. Thereupon the corporation shall be dissolved and the residue, if any, of its capital stock shall be canceled and retired.

SEC. 14. If at the expiration of the ten years for which the corporation has succession hereunder its board of directors shall not have completed the liquidation of its assets and the winding up of its affairs, the duty of completing such liquidation and winding up of its affairs shall be transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury, who for such purpose shall succeed to all the powers and duties of the board of directors of the corporation under this Act. In such event he may assign to any officer or officers of the United States in the Treasury Department the exercise and performance, under his general supervision and direction, of any such powers and duties; and nothing herein shall be construed to affect any right or privilege accrued, any penalty or liability incurred, "any criminal or civil proceeding commenced, or any authority conferred hereunder, except as herein provided in connection with the liquidation of the remaining assets and the winding up of the affairs of the corporation, until the Secretary of the Treasury shall find that such liquidation will no longer be advantageous to the United States and that all of its legal obligations have been provided for, whereupon he shall retire any capital stock then outstanding, pay into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts the unused balance of the moneys belonging to the corporation, and make the final report of the corporation to the Congress. Thereupon the corporation shall be deemed to be dissolved.

SEC. 15. The corporation shall make and publish a report quarterly of its operations to the Congress stating the aggregate loans made to each