12 U.S.C. § 339 — Participation by State member banks in lotteries and related activities

(a) A state member bank may not: (1) buy, sell, or otherwise deal in lottery tickets; (2) deal in bets that serve as a way to take part in a lottery; (3) announce, advertise, or publicize that a lottery exists; or (4) announce, advertise, or publicize who is taking part in a lottery, or who won. (b) A bank also may not allow: (1) any part of its banking offices to be used by anyone for any of the activities forbidden in (a); or (2) the public to have direct access from its banking offices to any other premises where someone conducts those forbidden activities. (c) Key terms: "Deal in" covers making, taking, buying, selling, redeeming, or collecting. A "lottery" is any arrangement — other than a "savings promotion raffle" — where three or more people ("participants") put in money or credit for the chance that some, but not all, of them ("winners") will get back more than they put in, with winners picked by a random drawing, a game, race, or contest, or by tracking the results of events where a participant's only stake is whether it makes them a winner. A "lottery ticket" is any right, privilege, or chance — including any receipt or record of it — of becoming a lottery winner. A "savings promotion raffle" is a contest where the only thing needed to have a chance at winning a prize is depositing a set amount of money into a savings account or program, where every entry has an equal chance, and which follows rules set by the appropriate regulator defined in section 5481. (d) Nothing in this section stops a bank from doing normal, lawful banking for a state that runs its own lottery, or for an official running that lottery — things like accepting deposits or handling checks and other negotiable instruments. (e) The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must issue whatever regulations are needed to strictly enforce this section and stop people from getting around it.