Two or more mutual state savings banks or two or more stock state savings banks organized and operating may merge or consolidate into a single state savings bank. The procedure to effect the merger is:

(1) The directors, or a majority of them, of the state savings banks that desire to merge, at separate meetings, may enter into a written agreement of merger specifying each state savings bank to be merged and the state savings bank that is to receive into itself the merging state savings bank or banks, and prescribing the terms and conditions of the merger and the mode of carrying it into effect. The merger agreement may provide other provisions with respect to the merger as appear necessary or desirable, or as the board may require.

(2) A meeting of members or stockholders of each of the state savings banks must be held separately upon written notice of not less than thirty days to members or stockholders of each state savings bank. The notice must specify the time, place, and purpose of the meeting. Notice must be made by personal service or postage prepaid mail to the last address of each member or stockholder appearing upon the records of the stock state savings bank, or in the alternative for a merger of mutual state savings banks, by publication of notice at least once a week for two weeks preceding the meeting in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the county or counties where each state savings bank has its principal or a branch office, or in a newspaper of general circulation in an adjoining county if none is available in the county. An appropriate officer of the state savings bank shall make proof by affidavit at the meeting of the due service of the notice or call for the meeting.

(3) The merger agreement and copies of the minutes of the meetings of the respective boards of directors as verified by the secretaries of the respective state savings banks must be submitted to the board, who shall investigate the affairs of the state savings banks proposing to merge. Each state savings bank must pay a fee established by the board. If, as a result of the investigation, the board concludes that factors are favorable, the board shall approve the merger in writing.

(4) At separate meetings of members or stockholders of the respective state savings banks, members or stockholders may adopt, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the votes or shares present, in person or by proxy, a resolution to merge into a single state savings bank upon the terms of the merger agreement as has been agreed upon by the directors of the respective state savings banks and as approved by the board. Upon the adoption of the resolution, a copy of the minutes of the proceedings of the meetings of members or stockholders of the respective state savings banks, certified by an appropriate officer of the merging state savings banks, must be filed in the office of the board. The board then shall approve or disapprove the merger for compliance with this chapter. If the board approves the merger, it shall issue a certificate of approval of the merger. Upon filing with the Secretary of State, the merger agreement takes effect according to its terms and is binding upon all members or stockholders of the state savings banks merging, and it is the act of merger of the constituent state savings banks under the laws of this State, and the certificate or certified copy of filing is evidence of the agreement and act of merger of the state savings banks and the observance and performance of all acts and conditions necessary to have been observed and performed before the merger. If the board disapproves the merger, the board shall issue a written statement of the reasons for the disapproval and notify the state savings banks to that effect.

(5) Upon the merger of any state savings bank, as above provided, into another:

(a) its corporate existence is merged into that of the receiving state savings bank; and all its right, title, interest in and to all property of any kind, whether real, personal, or mixed, and things in action, and every right, privilege, interest, or asset of any conceivable value or benefit then existing belonging or pertaining to it, or which would inure to it under an unmerged existence, immediately by law and without any conveyance or transfer, and without any further act or deed, must be vested in and become the property of the receiving state savings bank, which shall have, hold, and enjoy the same in its own right as fully and to the same extent as if the same were possessed, held, or enjoyed by the state savings banks so merged; and the receiving state savings bank must absorb fully and completely the state savings bank or banks so merged;

(b) its rights, liabilities, obligations, and relations to a person remain unchanged and the state savings bank into which it has been merged must succeed, by the merger, to all the relations, obligations, and liabilities as though it had itself assumed or incurred them. An obligation or liability of a member, customer, or stockholder in a state savings bank that is a party to the merger must not be affected by the merger, but obligations and liabilities must continue as they existed before the merger, unless otherwise provided in the merger agreement;

(c) a pending action or other judicial proceeding to which a merged state savings bank is a party, is not abated or discontinued by reason of the merger, but may be prosecuted to final judgment, order, or decree in the same manner as if the merger had not been made; or the receiving state savings bank may be substituted as a party to the action or proceeding, and a judgment, order, or decree may be rendered to or against it that might have been rendered for or against the other state savings bank if the merger had not occurred.

(6) Notwithstanding another provision of this section, the board may waive any or all of the foregoing requirements upon finding that waiver would be in the best interest of members or stockholders of the merging state savings banks.