(a) The CDC, whether for-profit or non-profit, must have a Board of Directors with at least seven (7) voting directors who live or work in the CDC's State of incorporation or in an area that is contiguous to that State that meets the definition of a Local Economic Area for the CDC. The Board must be actively involved in encouraging economic development in the Area of Operations. The initial Board may be created by any method permitted by applicable State law. At a minimum, the Board must have directors with background and expertise in internal controls, financial risk management, commercial lending, legal issues relating to commercial lending, corporate governance, and economic, community or workforce development. Directors may be either currently employed or retired.

(b) At least two voting members of the Board of Directors, other than the CDC manager, must possess commercial lending experience satisfactory to SBA. When the Board votes on SBA loan approval or servicing actions, at least two voting Board members, with such commercial lending experience, other than the CDC manager, must be present and vote.

(c) The Board of Directors must meet at least quarterly and shall be responsible for the actions of the CDC and any committees established by the Board of Directors. In addition, the Board of Directors is subject to the following requirements:

(1) Except for the CDC manager, no person on the CDC's staff may be a voting director of the Board;

(2) A quorum must be present to transact business. The quorum shall be set by the CDC but shall be no less than 50% of the voting members of the Board of Directors;

(3) Attendance at meetings may be through any format permitted by State law;

(4) No CDC Board member may serve on the Board of another CDC.

(d) The Board shall have and exercise all corporate powers and authority and be responsible for all corporate actions and business. There must be no actual or appearance of a conflict of interest with respect to any actions of the Board. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the structure and operation of the CDC, as set forth in the Bylaws, comply with SBA's Loan Program Requirements. The responsibilities of the Board include, but are not limited, to the following:

(1) Approving the mission and the policies for the CDC;

(2) Hiring, firing, supervising and annually evaluating the CDC manager;

(3) Setting the salary for the CDC manager and reviewing all salaries;

(4) Establishing committees, at its discretion, including the following:

(i) Executive Committee. To the extent authorized in the Bylaws, the Board of Directors may establish an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may exercise the authority of the Board; however, the delegation of its authority does not relieve the Board of its responsibility imposed by law or Loan Program Requirements. No further delegation or redelegation of this authority is permitted. If the Board establishes an Executive Committee and delegates any of its authority to the Executive Committee as set forth in the Bylaws of the CDC, the Executive Committee must:

(A) Be chosen by and from the Board of Directors from the Board; and

(B) Meet the same organizational and representational requirements as the Board of Directors, except that the Executive Committee must have a minimum of four voting members who must be present to conduct business.

(ii) Loan Committee. The Board of Directors may establish a Loan Committee. The Loan Committee may exercise the authority of the Board only as set forth below; however, the delegation of its authority does not relieve the Board of its responsibility imposed by law or Loan Program Requirements. If the Board of Directors chooses to establish a Loan Committee, no CDC staff or manager may serve on the Loan Committee. The Loan Committee must:

(A) Be chosen by the Board of Directors, and consist of individuals with a background in either financial risk management, commercial lending, or legal issues relating to commercial lending who are not associated with another CDC;

(B) Have a Quorum of at least four Loan Committee members authorized to vote;

(C) Have at least two (2) Loan Committee members with commercial lending experience satisfactory to SBA;

(D) Have no actual or appearance of a conflict of interest, including for example, a Loan Committee member participating in deliberations on a loan for which the Third Party Lender is the member's employer or the member is otherwise associated with the Third Party Lender; and

(E) Consist only of Loan Committee members who live or work in the CDC's State of incorporation or in an area that meets the definition of a Local Economic Area for the CDC, except that, for Projects that are financed under a CDC's Multi-State authority, the CDC must satisfy the requirements of either §120.835(c)(1) or (2) when voting on that Project.

(5) Ensuring that the CDC's expenses are reasonable and customary;

(6) Hiring directly an independent auditor to provide the financial statements in accordance with Loan Program Requirements;

(7) Monitoring the CDC's portfolio performance on a regular basis;

(8) Reviewing a semiannual report on portfolio performance from the CDC manager, which would include, but not be limited to, asset quality and industry concentration;

(9) Ensuring that the CDC establishes and maintains adequate reserves for operations;

(10) Ensuring that the CDC invests in economic development in each of the States in its Area of Operations in which it has a portfolio, and approving each investment. If the investment is included in the CDC's budget, the Board's approval of the budget may be deemed approval of the investment. If the investment is not included in the budget, the Board must separately approve the investment;

(11) Establishing a policy in the Bylaws of the CDC prohibiting an actual conflict of interest or the appearance of same, and enforcing such policy (see §120.140 and §120.851);

(12) Retaining accountability for all of the actions of the CDC;

(13) Establishing written internal control policies, in accordance with §120.826;

(14) Establishing commercially reasonable loan approval policies, procedures, and standards. The Bylaws must include any delegations of authority to the Loan Committee and Executive Committee, if either Committee has been established. In addition, the CDC must establish and set forth in detail in a policy manual its credit approval process. All 504 loan applications must have credit approval prior to submission to the Agency. The Loan Committee, if established, may be delegated the authority to provide credit approval for loans up to $2,000,000 but, for loans of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, the Loan Committee's action must be ratified by the Board or Executive Committee prior to Debenture closing. Only the Board or Executive Committee, if authorized by the Board, may provide credit approval for loans greater than $2,000,000.

(15) All members of the Board of Directors must annually certify in writing that they have read and understand this section, and copies of the certification must be included in the Annual Report to SBA.

(e) The Board of Directors shall maintain Directors' and Officers' Liability and Errors and Omissions insurance in amounts established by SBA that are based on the size of the CDC's portfolio and other relevant factors.

[79 FR 15649, Mar. 21, 2014, as amended at 82 FR 39504, Aug. 21, 2017; 84 FR 66294, Dec. 4, 2019]