View all text of Part A [§ 2121 - § 2134]
§ 2128. Loans, commitments, and technical and financial assistance
(a) Authorities
(b) Additional authorities
(1) A bank for cooperatives is authorized to make or participate in loans and commitments to, and to extend other technical and financial assistance to a domestic or foreign party with respect to its transactions with an association that is a voting stockholder of the bank for the import of agricultural commodities or products thereof, agricultural supplies, or aquatic products through purchases, sales or exchanges, if the bank for cooperatives determines, under regulations of the Farm Credit Administration, that the voting stockholder will benefit substantially as a result of such loan, commitment, or assistance.
(2)
(A) A bank for cooperatives may make or participate in loans and commitments to, and extend other technical and financial assistance to—
(i) any domestic or foreign party for the export, including (where applicable) the cost of freight, of agricultural commodities or products thereof, agricultural supplies, or aquatic products from the United States under policies and procedures established by the bank to ensure that the commodities, products, or supplies are originally sourced, where reasonably available, from one or more eligible cooperative associations described in section 2129(a) of this title on a priority basis, except that if the total amount of the balances outstanding on loans made by a bank under this clause that—(I) are made to finance the export of commodities, products, or supplies that are not originally sourced from a cooperative, and(II) are not guaranteed or insured, in an amount equal to at least 95 percent of the amount loaned, by a department, agency, bureau, board, commission, or establishment of the United States or a corporation wholly-owned directly or indirectly by the United States,
exceeds an amount that is equal to 50 percent of the bank’s capital, then a sufficient interest in the loans shall be sold by the bank for cooperatives to commercial banks and other non-System lenders to reduce the total amount of such outstanding balances to an amount not greater than an amount equal to 50 percent of the bank’s capital; and
(ii) except as provided in subparagraph (B), any domestic or foreign party in which an eligible cooperative association described in section 2129(a) of this title (including, for the purpose of facilitating its domestic business operations only, a cooperative or other entity described in section 2129(b)(1)(A) of this title) has an ownership interest, for the purpose of facilitating the domestic or foreign business operations of the association, except that if the ownership interest by an eligible cooperative association, or associations, is less than 50 percent, the financing shall be limited to the percentage held in the party by the association or associations.
(B) A bank for cooperatives shall not use the authority provided in subparagraph (A)(ii) to provide financial assistance to a party for the purpose of financing the relocation of a plant or facility from the United States to another country.
(3) A bank for cooperatives is authorized to provide such services as may be customary and normal in maintaining relationships with domestic or foreign entities to facilitate the activities specified in paragraphs (1) and (2), consistent with this chapter.
(4)Definition of agricultural supply.—In this subsection, the term “agricultural supply” includes—
(A) a farm supply; and
(B)
(i) agriculture-related processing equipment;
(ii) agriculture-related machinery; and
(iii) other capital goods related to the storage or handling of agricultural commodities or products.
(c) Applicable policies
(d) Regulatory limitations
(e) Speculative futures transactions
(f) Installation, expansion, or improvement of water and waste disposal facilitiesThe banks for cooperatives may, for the purpose of installing, maintaining, expanding, improving, or operating water and waste disposal facilities in rural areas, make and participate in loans and commitments and extending other technical and financial assistance to—
(1) cooperatives formed specifically for the purpose of establishing or operating such facilities; and
(2) public and quasi-public agencies and bodies, and other public and private entities that, under authority of State or local law, establish or operate such facilities.
For purposes of this subsection, the term “rural area” means all territory of a State that is not within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of more than 20,000 based on the latest decennial census of the United States.
(Pub. L. 92–181, title III, § 3.7, Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 605; Pub. L. 96–592, title III, § 304, Dec. 24, 1980, 94 Stat. 3444; Pub. L. 101–624, title XXIII, § 2323(a), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4013; Pub. L. 102–237, title V, § 502(e)(1), Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1868; Pub. L. 102–552, title V, §§ 504, 505, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4131; Pub. L. 103–376, § 3, Oct. 19, 1994, 108 Stat. 3497; Pub. L. 107–171, title V, § 5402, May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 350; Pub. L. 115–334, title V, § 5411(7), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4679.)