1. (a) General. Except for those records described in subsection (b) of this section, the requirement to retain any records under this rule may be satisfied by retention of the original or a copy. The board of directors shall adopt a written policy authorizing the destruction of specified records on a continuing basis upon expiration of specified retention periods.

2. (b) Permanent retention. The following records must be retained permanently in their original form:

   1. (1) charter, bylaws, articles of incorporation, and amendments thereto;
   2. (2) currently effective certificates or licenses to operate under programs of various government agencies, such as a certificate to act as issuing agent for the sale of United States savings bonds; and
   3. (3) currently effective membership applications, joint membership agreements, payable on death agreements, share draft agreements, signature cards, and any other currently effective account agreements related to share or deposit accounts. A credit union board of directors may by policy elect to maintain these membership records in other than original form after obtaining a legal opinion that the proposed methodology continues all legal remedies as if the original has been retained.

3. (c) Ten-year retention. Records which are significant to the continuing operation of the credit union must be retained until the expiration of ten years following the making of the record or the last entry thereon, or the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, whichever is later. The records are:

   1. (1) minutes of meetings of the members and board of directors;
   2. (2) journal and cash record;
   3. (3) general ledger and subsidiary ledgers;
   4. (4) for active accounts, one copy of each individual share and loan ledger or its equivalent;
   5. (5) comprehensive annual audit reports including evidence of account verification; and
   6. (6) examination reports and official correspondence from the department or any other government agency acting in a regulatory capacity.

4. (d) Five-year retention. The following records must be retained until the expiration of five years following the making of the record or the last entry thereon, or the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, whichever is later:

   1. (1) records related to closed accounts including membership applications, joint membership agreements, payable on death agreements, signature cards, share draft agreements, and any other account agreements;
   2. (2) for an active account, any account agreement which is no longer in effect.
5. (e) Reproduction method. Credit unions must use a reproduction process which produces a means to retrieve the information in a readable and usable format.
6. (f) Data processing records. Provisions of this rule apply to records produced by a data processing system. Output reports that substitute for standard conventional records, or that provided the only support for entries in the journal and cash record, should be retained for the minimum period specified in this rule. As with most other records, retention of the original or a copy of the original satisfies the requirements of this rule.

7. (g) Records preservation. All state chartered credit unions are required to maintain a records preservation program to identify and store vital records in order that they may be reconstructed in the event the credit union's records are destroyed. Storage of vital records is the responsibility of the board but may be delegated to the responsible person(s). A vital records storage center should be established at some location that is far enough from the credit union office to avoid the simultaneous loss of both sets of records in the event of a disaster. Records must be stored every calendar quarter within 30 days following quarter-end at which time records stored for the previous quarter may be destroyed. Stored records may be in any form which can be used to reconstruct the credit union's records. This includes machine copies, microfilm, or any other usable copy. The records to be stored shall be for the most recent month-end and are:

   1. (1) a list of all shares and/or deposits and loan balances for each member's account. Each balance on the list is to be identified by an account name or number. Multiple balances of either shares or loans to one account shall be listed separately;
   2. (2) a financial statement/statement of financial condition which lists all the credit union's assets and liability accounts;
   3. (3) a listing of the credit union's banks, insurance policies and investments. This information may be marked "permanent" and updated only when changes are made.
8. (h) Compliance. Credit unions that have some or all of their records maintained by an off-site data processor are considered to be in compliance so long as the processor meets the minimum requirements of this section. Credit unions that have in-house capabilities shall make the necessary provisions to safeguard the backup of data on a continuing basis.

Source Note:The provisions of this §91.402 adopted to be effective June 8, 1992, 17 TexReg 3781; amended to be effective July 8, 1994, 19 TexReg 4929.