Bank of North Dakota

The Bank of North Dakota (BND) is a state-owned, state-run financial institution based in Bismarck, North Dakota. It is the only government-owned general-service bank in the United States.[2][3]

Bank of North Dakota

Type	State owned
Industry	Banking Financial services
Founded	1919 (1919) in Bismarck, North Dakota
Headquarters	Bismarck, North Dakota , United States
Area served	North Dakota
Operating income	US$158.5 million[1] (2018)
Total assets	US$7.015 billion (2018)
Owner	Government of North Dakota
Website	bnd.nd.gov

Organization

Under state law, the bank is the State of North Dakota doing business as the Bank of North Dakota.[4] The state and its agencies are required to place their funds in the bank, but local governments are not required to do so.

Services

Other entities may also open accounts at the Bank; however, BND offers fewer retail services than other institutions, and it has only one office. These limit its competitiveness in consumer banking.[5] The bank does have an account with the Federal Reserve Bank, but deposits are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, instead being guaranteed by the general fund of the state of North Dakota itself and the taxpayers of the state.[5] BND also guarantees student loans (through its Student Loans of North Dakota division), business development loans, and state and municipal bonds.[5]

History

The Bank of North Dakota was established by legislative action in 1919 to promote agriculture, commerce and industry in North Dakota.[2] Though initially conceived by populists in the Non-Partisan League, or NPL, as a credit union-style institution to free the farmers of the state from predatory lenders, the bank's functions were largely blocked by out-of-state financial actors refusing to buy the bonds the bank issued to finance its lending, lending that would have provided competition to the commercial banks.[6] The business-backed Independent Voters Association then pursued shutting down the bank politically.[6] The recall of NPL Governor Lynn Frazier effectively ended the initial plan, with BND taking a more conservative central banking role in state finance.

The current president and CEO is Eric Hardmeyer. The bank is overseen by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, which is composed of the Governor, Attorney General, and the Agriculture Commissioner (formerly the Agriculture and Labor Commissioner) of North Dakota.[7]

A man in October 2011 advertising the bank at Occupy Wall Street.

Presidents

#	Name	Term
1	F.W. Cathro	1919
2	J. R. Waters	1920–1921
3	G.R. Green	1922–1929
4	C.F. Mudgett	1930–1932
5	R.M. Stangler	1933–1936
6	F.A. Vogel	1937–1944
7	H.C. Bowers	1945–1956
8	T.W. Sette	1957–1961
9	G.M. Thompson	1962–1968
10	H.L. Thorndal	1969–1986
11	Joseph Lamb	1986–1992
12	John Hoeven	1993–2000
13	Eric Hardmeyer	2001–present

References

1. "Annual report 2018" (PDF). Bank of North Dakota. Retrieved 3 Apr 2020.
2. "Home". Bank of North Dakota.
3. Limited-service governmental or quasi-governmental banks include the Federal Reserve Banks, the Federal Financing Bank and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.
4. The State of North Dakota, d/b/a Bank of North Dakota v. Merchants National Bank and Trust Company; Red River National Bank and Trust Company; Jamestown National Bank; Union National Bank; Wahpeton National Bank, 634 F.2d 368 (8th Cir. Aug. 6, 1980).
5. "Bank of North Dakota FAQ" (PDF). Bank of North Dakota. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
6. "Bank of North Dakota". Prairie Public Broadcasting via YouTube. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
7. "Home page for ND Industrial Commission". www.nd.gov.

External links

• Official website
• Mother Jones - How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street
• Bank of North Dakota Documentary, produced by Prairie Public Television