32-1-534. Claims -- order of payment -- priorities. (1) Except as otherwise provided by the Uniform Commercial Code, the order of payment of the debts of a bank liquidated by the department is as follows:

(a) the expense of liquidation, including compensation of agents, employees, and attorneys;

(b) all funds of any other bank in process of liquidation by the department and placed on deposit by the department;

(c) all funds held by the bank in trust;

(d) debts due depositors or holders of cashier's checks, certified checks, and drafts on correspondent banks, including protest fees paid by them on valid checks or drafts presented after closing of the bank, pro rata. All deposit balances of other banks or trust companies and all deposits of public funds of every kind (except those actually placed on special deposit under the statutes providing for deposit), including those of the United States, the state of Montana, and every county, district, municipality, political subdivision, or public corporation of this state, whether secured or unsecured or whether deposited in violation of law or otherwise, are included within the terms of this subsection (1)(d) and take the same priority as debts due any other depositor. Accrued interest on savings accounts, certificates of deposit, or other interest-bearing contracts, up to the time of the closing of the bank, is considered as part of the debt due.

(e) interest on the classes of claims contained in subsections (1)(a) through (1)(d) without regard to the priority computed from the date of closing of the bank at the rate of 7% a year;

(f) unliquidated claims for damages and similar claims, including claims of stockholders for amounts claimed to have been voluntarily advanced to the bank or paid in by way of special or voluntary or other assessments.

(2) The department may, in its discretion, without regard to the priorities fixed in subsections (1)(c) through (1)(f) or in preference to the payment of any claims of creditors within these subsections, pay off and discharge any lien, claim, or charge against the assets or property of the bank in its hands and pay those sums it considers necessary for the preservation, maintenance, conservation, and protection of those assets and property and property on which the bank has liens by mortgage or otherwise. The department may create a fund or retain, in preference to the claim of any creditors in subsections (1)(c) through (1)(f), money for those purposes.

(3) Collateral that has been put up or pledged as security for the payment of bills payable by a bank or loans or discounts that have been outstanding as rediscounts of a bank prior to the closing of it is not available to the other creditors of the bank in whole or in part until the bills payable or rediscounts have been retired, after which offsets as provided in this section must be allowed.

(4) Deposits of a person, firm, or corporation in a bank that is in the possession of the department may be offset against any indebtedness (subject to the conditions of subsection (3)), except assessments on stock, due to the bank from that person, firm, or corporation. All dividends when declared in favor of a creditor of the bank may be applied, in the discretion of the department, in satisfaction of the indebtedness, if any, due the bank from the creditor.