Section 7-1-490. Responsibility of directors and officers; delegation of investment decisions

   (a) Directors and officers of a bank or trust company shall discharge the duties of their respective positions in good faith and with that diligence, care, and skill which ordinarily prudent men would exercise under similar circumstances in like positions. In discharging his duties, a director or officer, when acting in good faith, shall be entitled to rely upon information, opinions, reports, or statements, including financial statements and other financial data, in each case prepared or presented by:

   (1) One or more officers or employees of the bank or trust company whom the director or officer reasonably believes to be reliable and competent in the matters presented;

   (2) Counsel, public accountants, or other persons as to matters which the director or officer reasonably believes to be within such person's professional or expert competence; or

   (3) A committee of the board upon which the director or officer does not serve, duly designated in accordance with a provision of the articles of incorporation or the bylaws, as to matters within that committee's designated authority, which committee the director or officer reasonably believes to merit confidence;

but such director or officer shall not be considered to be acting in good faith if he has knowledge concerning the matter in question that would cause such reliance to be unwarranted. A director or officer who so performs his duties shall have no liability by reason of being or having been a director or officer of the bank or trust company.

(b) A bank, through its board of directors, may delegate to a correspondent bank the power to determine, within the limits set by law, the investments in which its assets, including reserve assets, may be held, provided that the bank must obtain the prior written approval of the department for such delegation.

Code 1933, § 41A-2211, enacted by Ga. L. 1974, p. 705, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 730, § 7; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 7.