§ 1717.655 - Exclusion of certain investments, loans, and guarantees.

§ 1717.655 Exclusion of certain investments, loans, and guarantees.

(a) In calculating the amount of investments, loans and guarantees permitted under this subpart, there is excluded from the computation any investment, loan or guarantee of the type which by the terms of the borrower's RUS mortgage or RUS loan contract the borrower may make in unlimited amounts without RUS approval.

(b) Furthermore, the borrower may make unlimited investments, without prior approval of the Administrator, in:

(1) Securities or deposits issued, guaranteed or fully insured as to payment by the United States Government or any agency thereof;

(2) Capital term certificates, bank stock, or other similar securities of the supplemental lender which have been purchased as a condition of membership in the supplemental lender, or as a condition of receiving financial assistance from such lender, as well as any other investment made in, or loans made to, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, the Saint Paul Bank for Cooperatives, and CoBank, ACB;

(3) Patronage capital allocated from an electric power supply cooperative of which the borrower is a member; and

(4) Patronage capital allocated from an electric distribution cooperative to a power supply borrower.

(c) Without prior approval of the Administrator, the borrower may also:

(1) Invest or lend funds derived directly from:

(i) Grants which the borrower in not obligated to repay, regardless of the source or purpose of the grant; and

(ii) Loans received from or guaranteed by any Federal, State or local government program designed to promote rural economic development, provided that the borrower uses the loan proceeds for such purpose;

(2) Make loans guaranteed by an agency of USDA, up to the amount of principal whose repayment, with interest, is fully guaranteed; and

(3)

(i) Make unlimited investments in and unlimited loans to finance the following community infrastructure that serves primarily consumers located in rural areas as defined in 7 CFR 1710.2, and guarantee debt issued for the construction or acquisition of such infrastructure, up to an aggregate amount of such guarantees not to exceed 20 percent of the borrower's equity:

(A) Water and waste disposal systems;

(B) Solid waste disposal systems;

(C) Telecommunication and other electronic communication systems; and

(D) Natural gas distribution systems.

(ii) In each of the four cases in paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this section, if the system is a component of a larger organization other than the borrower itself (e.g., if it is a component of a subsidiary of the borrower or a corporation independent of the borrower), to be eligible for the exemption the borrower must certify annually that a majority of the gross revenues of the larger organization during the most recent fiscal year came from customers of said system who were located in a rural area.

(d) Also excluded from the calculation of investments, loans and guarantees made by the borrower are:

(1) Amounts properly recordable in Account 142 Customer Accounts Receivable, and Account 143 Other Accounts Receivable;

(2) Any investment, loan, or guarantee that the borrower is required to make by an agency of USDA, for example, as a condition of obtaining financial assistance for itself or any other person or organization;

(3) Investments included in an irrevocable trust for the purpose of funding post-retirement benefits of the borrower's employees;

(4) Reserves required by a reserve bond agreement or other agreement legally binding on the borrower, that are dedicated to making required payments on debt secured under the RUS mortgage, not to exceed the amount of reserves specifically required by such agreements; and

(5) Investments included in an irrevocable trust approved by RUS and dedicated to the payment of decommissioning costs of nuclear facilities of the borrower.

(e) Grandfathered exclusions. All amounts of individual investments, loans, and guarantees excluded by RUS as of February 16, 1995 shall remain excluded. Such exclusions must have been based on the RUS mortgage, RUS loan contract, regulations, bulletins, memoranda, or other written notice from RUS. Profits, interest, and other returns earned (regardless of whether or not they are reinvested) on such investments, loans and guarantees after February 16, 1995 shall be excluded only if they are eligible for exclusion under paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section. Any new commitments of money to such investments, loans and guarantees shall likewise be excluded only if they are eligible under paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section.

(f) Any investment, loan or guarantee made by a borrower that is not excluded under this section or under § 1717.657(d) shall be included in the aggregate amount of investments, loans and guarantees made by the borrower, regardless of whether RUS has specifically approved the investment, loan or guarantee under § 1717.657(c), or has approved a related transaction (e.g., a lien accommodation).