The Bank of North Dakota (BND) is a financial institution based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Under state law the bank is the State of North Dakota doing business as the Bank of North Dakota.
All state and local government agencies are required to place their funds in the bank. While other enitites could theoretically place their funds in the Bank, the retail banking functions of BND have been limited to avoid competition with other institutions.
Instead, BND has taken a role more akin to a central bank, and has many functions, such as check clearing, that might be expected from a branch office of the Federal Reserve, though the Bank does not have an account with the Fed, nor is it insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, instead being guaranteed by the State of North Dakota itself.
BND also guarantees student loans, business development loans, and state and municipal bonds.
Though initially conceived by Non-Partisan League populists as a credit union-style institution to free the farmers of the state from predatory lenders, the Bank's functions were largely neutered by the time of its inception by business-backed IVA. The recall of Governor Lynn Frazier was the final nail in the coffin for the original plan.
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