a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a qualified bank may: (1) employ any broker-dealer which is registered with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission and with the Bureau of Securities in the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety as a custodian for the qualified bank for any securities held by the qualified bank in its fiduciary capacity; and (2) register the securities in the name of the broker-dealer so employed.

b. Any broker-dealer employed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall have the same power and shall be subject to the same restrictions with respect to the treatment of securities which it holds as custodian as any bank acting as custodian for a qualified bank. Any securities held by a broker-dealer pursuant to this act in which the broker-dealer does not have a lien for indebtedness due to it from an estate or trust may not be pledged, lent, hypothecated, or disposed of except upon specific instruction of the qualified bank acting in its fiduciary capacity.

L. 1987, c. 24, s. 1.