Florida 2022 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0431 Introduced / Bill

Filed 10/28/2021

                       
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to the Office of Financial Regulation; 2 
amending s. 20.121, F.S.; authorizing the Bureau of 3 
Financial Investigations within the Office of 4 
Financial Regulation to include law enforcement 5 
officers among its investigative personnel; requiring 6 
that such law enforcement officers be considered state 7 
law enforcement officers; providing requirements for, 8 
and duties and authority of, such law enforcement 9 
officers; amending s. 120.80, F.S.; revising the 10 
grounds for denial of a license application to 11 
establish a new bank, trust company, or capital stock 12 
savings association under certain circumstances; 13 
amending s. 475.01, F.S.; conforming a cross -14 
reference; amending s. 494.00312, F.S.; revising 15 
requirements for loan originator license applications; 16 
revising processes for fingerprinting and criminal 17 
history background checks; requiring the Financial 18 
Services Commission to establish certain criteria to 19 
assess applicants for loan originator license 20 
applications; providing requirements for such 21 
criteria; deleting a provision relating to the 22 
expiration of licenses; amending s. 494.00313, F.S.; 23 
specifying fingerprinting processes for loan 24 
originator license renewal applications; providing 25     
 
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duties for the office; amending s. 494.00321, F.S.; 26 
revising processes for fingerprinting and criminal 27 
history background checks; requiring the commission to 28 
establish certain criteria to assess applicants for 29 
mortgage broker license applications; providing 30 
requirements for such criteria; deleting a provision 31 
relating to the expi ration of licenses; amending s. 32 
494.00322, F.S.; specifying fingerprinting processes 33 
for mortgage broker license renewal applications; 34 
providing duties for the office; deleting a 35 
requirement relating to credit reports of licensee's 36 
control persons; amendin g s. 494.00611, F.S.; revising 37 
processes for fingerprinting and criminal history 38 
background checks; requiring the commission to 39 
establish certain criteria to assess applicants for 40 
mortgage lender license applications; providing 41 
requirements for such criter ia; deleting a provision 42 
relating to the expiration of licenses; amending s. 43 
494.00612, F.S.; specifying fingerprinting processes 44 
for mortgage lender license renewal applications; 45 
providing duties for the office; deleting requirements 46 
relating to certain p roof of net worth and to credit 47 
reports of licensee's control persons; creating s. 48 
501.2076, F.S.; providing that impositions of fees or 49 
other charges by third -party agents or entities for 50     
 
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certain purposes are violations of specified statutes; 51 
amending s. 518.117, F.S.; conforming a cross -52 
reference; repealing part V of ch. 559, F.S., relating 53 
to the Florida Commercial Collection Practices Act; 54 
amending s. 559.952, F.S.; conforming a cross -55 
reference; amending s. 560.103, F.S.; revising and 56 
deleting definitions; amending s. 560.104, F.S.; 57 
revising the list of entities that are exempt from 58 
specified statutes; providing a list of entities that 59 
are exempt from license requirements of specified 60 
statutes; amending s. 560.105, F.S.: providing that 61 
the office is responsible for the administration and 62 
enforcement of ch. 560, F.S.; repealing s. 560.107, 63 
F.S., relating to liability; amending s. 560.109, 64 
F.S.; authorizing the office to waive specified 65 
examination requirements under certain circumstances; 66 
conforming a provision to changes made by the act; 67 
revising the timeline requirement to make records 68 
available to the office under certain circumstances; 69 
repealing ss. 560.1091 and 560.1092, F.S., relating to 70 
contracted examinations and examination expenses, 71 
respectively; amending s. 560.111, F.S.; revising 72 
prohibited activities of money services businesses, 73 
authorized vendors, and affiliated parties; amending 74 
s. 560.114, F.S.; providing actions that constitute 75     
 
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grounds for specified disciplinary actions against 76 
compliance officers of money services businesses; 77 
revising actions that constitute grounds for specified 78 
disciplinary actions against money services 79 
businesses, authorized vendors, and affiliated 80 
parties; deleting provisions relating to summary 81 
suspensions of money se rvices business licenses; 82 
providing circumstances under which compliance 83 
officers of money services businesses are responsible 84 
for acts of certain money services businesses, 85 
authorized vendors, and affiliated parties; amending 86 
s. 560.118, F.S.; deleting pr ovisions requiring 87 
licensees to file annual financial audit reports and 88 
to bear the costs of the audits; amending s. 560.126, 89 
F.S.; deleting provisions relating to licensees that 90 
engage in check cashing under certain circumstances; 91 
amending s. 560.128, F.S .; deleting a provision 92 
relating to the commission's rulemaking authority; 93 
amending s. 560.129, F.S.; conforming a provision to 94 
changes made by the act; conforming a cross -reference; 95 
amending s. 560.141, F.S.; revising the information 96 
required for money se rvices business license 97 
applications; deleting obsolete language; making 98 
technical changes; amending s. 560.203, F.S.; 99 
specifying activities that licensees may authorize 100     
 
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authorized vendors to conduct; amending s. 560.205, 101 
F.S.; specifying the financial aud it reports that may 102 
be submitted for certain license applications under 103 
certain circumstances; creating s. 560.2051, F.S.; 104 
providing requirements for license applicants or 105 
licensees that intend to conduct money services 106 
business activities through branch o ffices; amending 107 
s. 560.208, F.S.; conforming a provision to changes 108 
made by the act; amending s. 560.309, F.S.; revising 109 
requirements for licensees' payment instruments; 110 
requiring licensees to notify the office within a 111 
specified timeframe if licensees ce ase to maintain 112 
certain depository accounts; revising requirements for 113 
licensees to resume cashing payment instruments under 114 
certain circumstances; defining the term "authorized 115 
officer"; requiring certain branch offices, rather 116 
than locations, of licensee s to be equipped with 117 
security camera systems; deleting a provision 118 
requiring check cashers to display their licenses; 119 
amending s. 560.310, F.S.; revising requirements for 120 
customer identification documentation for cashing 121 
payment instruments under a specif ied circumstance; 122 
revising the information that licensees must submit to 123 
the check cashing database; deleting provisions 124 
relating to a competitive solicitation by the office 125     
 
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for an online check cashing database; amending s. 126 
560.312, F.S.; making a technica l change; amending s. 127 
655.045, F.S.; revising requirements for examinations 128 
of state financial institutions under certain 129 
circumstances; requiring each board director of a 130 
state financial institution to review an examination 131 
report and acknowledge receipt of the report; amending 132 
s. 655.414, F.S.; revising authorization for financial 133 
institutions in acquiring assets and liabilities of 134 
other financial institutions; providing calculations 135 
of asset and liability percentages; revising the 136 
limits on sales of asse ts by mutual financial 137 
institutions to stock financial institutions; amending 138 
s. 655.50, F.S.; revising the definition of the term 139 
"financial institution"; amending s. 657.021, F.S.; 140 
requiring credit unions to submit to the office names 141 
and residence addresses of specified elected and 142 
appointed persons within a specified timeframe under 143 
certain circumstances; amending s. 657.028, F.S.; 144 
deleting a provision requiring the filing with the 145 
office of names and addresses of specified persons of 146 
credit unions; amending s. 658.12, F.S.; defining the 147 
term "target market"; amending s. 658.20, F.S.; 148 
revising investigation requirements for the office 149 
upon applications for banks and trust facilities; 150     
 
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amending s. 658.21, F.S.; revising findings 151 
requirements for the office for approval of 152 
applications for state banks and trust companies; 153 
amending s. 658.28, F.S.; providing notification 154 
requirements for acquiring a controlling interest in a 155 
state bank or state trust company through probate or 156 
trust; providing requirements be fore such an interest 157 
gives rise to a presumption of control; amending s. 158 
658.2953, F.S.; defining the term "de novo branch"; 159 
amending s. 662.1225, F.S.; revising requirements for 160 
deposit accounts of family trust companies and 161 
licensed family trust compani es; amending s. 662.128, 162 
F.S.; revising the timeline for family trust 163 
companies, licensed family trust companies, and 164 
foreign licensed family trust companies to file annual 165 
renewal applications; amending s. 663.07, F.S.; 166 
revising requirements for internati onal bank agencies 167 
and international branches; amending s. 663.532, F.S.; 168 
revising the information that must be included in the 169 
notice filed with the office by proposed qualified 170 
limited service affiliates; requiring qualified 171 
limited service affiliates to suspend specified 172 
permissible activities under certain circumstances; 173 
providing circumstances under which suspensions may be 174 
lifted; amending s. 736.0802, F.S.; conforming a 175     
 
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cross-reference; providing appropriations; providing 176 
an effective date. 177 
 178 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 179 
 180 
 Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 181 
20.121, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 182 
 20.121  Department of Financial Services. —There is created 183 
a Department of Financial Services. 184 
 (3)  FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION. —Effective January 7, 185 
2003, there is created within the Department of Financial 186 
Services the Financial Services Commission, composed of the 187 
Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, and 188 
the Commissioner of Agriculture, which shall for purposes of 189 
this section be referred to as the commission. Commission 190 
members shall serve as agency head of the Financial Services 191 
Commission. The commission shall be a separate budget entity and 192 
shall be exempt from the pr ovisions of s. 20.052. Commission 193 
action shall be by majority vote consisting of at least three 194 
affirmative votes. The commission shall not be subject to 195 
control, supervision, or direction by the Department of 196 
Financial Services in any manner, including pu rchasing, 197 
transactions involving real or personal property, personnel, or 198 
budgetary matters. 199 
 (a)  Structure.—The major structural unit of the commission 200     
 
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is the office. Each office shall be headed by a director. The 201 
following offices are established: 202 
 1.  The Office of Insurance Regulation, which shall be 203 
responsible for all activities concerning insurers and other 204 
risk bearing entities, including licensing, rates, policy forms, 205 
market conduct, claims, issuance of certificates of authority, 206 
solvency, viatical settlements, premium financing, and 207 
administrative supervision, as provided under the insurance code 208 
or chapter 636. The head of the Office of Insurance Regulation 209 
is the Director of the Office of Insurance Regulation, who may 210 
also be known as the Commi ssioner of Insurance Regulation. 211 
 2.  The Office of Financial Regulation, which shall be 212 
responsible for all activities of the Financial Services 213 
Commission relating to the regulation of banks, credit unions, 214 
other financial institutions, finance companies , and the 215 
securities industry. The head of the office is the Director of 216 
the Office of Financial Regulation, who may also be known as the 217 
Commissioner of Financial Regulation. The Office of Financial 218 
Regulation shall include a Bureau of Financial Investiga tions, 219 
which shall function as a criminal justice agency for purposes 220 
of ss. 943.045-943.08 and shall have a separate budget. The 221 
bureau may conduct investigations within or outside this state 222 
as the bureau deems necessary to aid in the enforcement of this 223 
section. 224 
 a.  The bureau may include law enforcement officers among 225     
 
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its investigative personnel. These law enforcement officers 226 
shall be considered state law enforcement officers for all 227 
purposes. They must be certified officers in compliance with s. 228 
943.1395 or meet the requirements of s. 943.13(1) -(10) until 229 
certified, and the bureau must comply with s. 943.133(2) and 230 
(3). These law enforcement officers may bear arms in the 231 
performance of their duties, and they may execute arrest 232 
warrants and search warr ants; serve subpoenas issued for the 233 
examination, investigation, and trial of all offenses; make 234 
arrests upon probable cause without warrant any person found in 235 
the act of violating a provision of law; and make arrests for 236 
criminal violations established a s a result of their 237 
investigations. 238 
 b. If, during an investigation, the office has reason to 239 
believe that any criminal law of this state has or may have been 240 
violated, the office shall refer any records tending to show 241 
such violation to state or federal law enforcement or 242 
prosecutorial agencies and shall provide investigative 243 
assistance to those agencies as required. 244 
 Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 245 
120.80, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 246 
 120.80  Exceptions and special requ irements; agencies.— 247 
 (3)  OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION. — 248 
 (a)  Notwithstanding s. 120.60(1), in proceedings for the 249 
issuance, denial, renewal, or amendment of a license or approval 250     
 
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of a merger pursuant to title XXXVIII: 251 
 1.a.  The Office of Financial Regulation of the Financial 252 
Services Commission shall have published in the Florida 253 
Administrative Register notice of the application within 21 days 254 
after receipt. 255 
 b.  Within 21 days after publication of notice, any person 256 
may request a hearing. Failure t o request a hearing within 21 257 
days after notice constitutes a waiver of any right to a 258 
hearing. The Office of Financial Regulation or an applicant may 259 
request a hearing at any time prior to the issuance of a final 260 
order. Hearings shall be conducted pursuan t to ss. 120.569 and 261 
120.57, except that the Financial Services Commission shall by 262 
rule provide for participation by the general public. 263 
 2.  Should a hearing be requested as provided by sub -264 
subparagraph 1.b., the applicant or licensee shall publish at 265 
its own cost a notice of the hearing in a newspaper of general 266 
circulation in the area affected by the application. The 267 
Financial Services Commission may by rule specify the format and 268 
size of the notice. 269 
 3.  Notwithstanding s. 120.60(1), and except as prov ided in 270 
subparagraph 4., an application for license for a new bank, new 271 
trust company, new credit union, new savings and loan 272 
association, or new licensed family trust company must be 273 
approved or denied within 180 days after receipt of the original 274 
application or receipt of the timely requested additional 275     
 
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information or correction of errors or omissions. An application 276 
for such a license or for acquisition of such control which is 277 
not approved or denied within the 180 -day period or within 30 278 
days after conclusion of a public hearing on the application, 279 
whichever is later, shall be deemed approved subject to the 280 
satisfactory completion of conditions required by statute as a 281 
prerequisite to license and approval of insurance of accounts 282 
for a new bank, a new sa vings and loan association, a new credit 283 
union, or a new licensed family trust company by the appropriate 284 
insurer. 285 
 4.  In the case of an application for license to establish 286 
a new bank, trust company, or capital stock savings association 287 
in which a foreign national proposes to own or control 10 288 
percent or more of any class of voting securities, and in the 289 
case of an application by a foreign national for approval to 290 
acquire control of a bank, trust company, or capital stock 291 
savings association, the Office o f Financial Regulation shall 292 
request that a public hearing be conducted pursuant to ss. 293 
120.569 and 120.57. Notice of such hearing shall be published by 294 
the applicant as provided in subparagraph 2. The failure of such 295 
foreign national to appear personally at or to participate 296 
through video conference in the hearing shall be grounds for 297 
denial of the application. Notwithstanding s. 120.60(1) and 298 
subparagraph 3., every application involving a foreign national 299 
shall be approved or denied within 1 year after re ceipt of the 300     
 
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original application or any timely requested additional 301 
information or the correction of any errors or omissions, or 302 
within 30 days after the conclusion of the public hearing on the 303 
application, whichever is later. 304 
 Section 3.  Subsection (4 ) of section 475.01, Florida 305 
Statutes, is amended to read: 306 
 475.01  Definitions. — 307 
 (4)  A broker acting as a trustee of a trust created under 308 
chapter 689 is subject to the provisions of this chapter unless 309 
the trustee is a bank, state or federal associatio n, or trust 310 
company possessing trust powers as defined in s. 658.12 s. 311 
658.12(23). 312 
 Section 4.  Paragraphs (a) and (f) of subsection (2), 313 
subsection (3), paragraph (b) of subsection (4), and subsection 314 
(7) of section 494.00312, Florida Statutes, are amen ded to read: 315 
 494.00312  Loan originator license. — 316 
 (2)  In order to apply for a loan originator license, an 317 
applicant must: 318 
 (a)  Be at least 18 years of age and have a high school 319 
diploma or its equivalent . 320 
 (f)  Submit fingerprints to the registry for s ubmission to 321 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a federal criminal 322 
history background check. in accordance with rules adopted by 323 
the commission: 324 
 1.  The fingerprints may be submitted to the registry, the 325     
 
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office, or a vendor acting on behalf of the re gistry or the 326 
office. 327 
 2.  The office may contract with a third -party vendor to 328 
provide live-scan fingerprinting. 329 
 3.  A state criminal history background check must be 330 
conducted through the Department of Law Enforcement, and a 331 
federal criminal history bac kground check must be conducted 332 
through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 333 
 4.  All fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law 334 
Enforcement must be submitted electronically and entered into 335 
the statewide automated biometric identification system 336 
established in s. 943.05(2)(b) and available for use in 337 
accordance with s. 943.05(2)(g) and (h). The office shall pay an 338 
annual fee to the department to participate in the system and 339 
inform the department of any person whose fingerprints are no 340 
longer required to be retained. 341 
 1.5. The costs of fingerprint processing , including the 342 
cost of retaining the fingerprints, shall be borne by the person 343 
subject to the background check. 344 
 2.6. The office shall review is responsible for reviewing 345 
the result results of the state and federal criminal history 346 
background check checks and determine determining whether the 347 
applicant meets licensure requirements. 348 
 (3)  An application is considered received for the purposes 349 
of s. 120.60 upon the office's receipt of all documenta tion from 350     
 
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the registry, including the completed application form, 351 
documentation of completion of the prelicensure class, test 352 
results, criminal history information, and independent credit 353 
report, as well as the license application fee and, the fee 354 
required by s. 494.00172, and all applicable fingerprinting 355 
processing fees. 356 
 (4)  The office shall issue a loan originator license to 357 
each person who is not otherwise ineligible and who meets the 358 
requirements of this section. However, it is a ground for denial 359 
of licensure if the applicant: 360 
 (b)  Has failed to demonstrate the character, general 361 
fitness, and financial responsibility necessary to command the 362 
confidence of the community and warrant a determination that the 363 
applicant will operate honestly, fairly, and efficiently. 364 
 1.  If the office has information that could form the basis 365 
for license denial under this paragraph, before denying the 366 
license, the office must notify the applicant in writing of the 367 
specific items of concern and provide the applicant with an 368 
opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding the 369 
specific items and provide any information that the applicant 370 
believes is relevant to the office's determination. 371 
 2.  For purposes of evaluating adverse information found in 372 
an applicant's credit report, the information must be considered 373 
within the totality of the circumstances. Information provided 374 
by the applicant under subparagraph 1., or information obtained 375     
 
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by the office by other means, may be used to provide a context 376 
for the adverse items. For example, the adverse items may have 377 
resulted from factors that do not necessarily reflect negatively 378 
upon the applicant's character, general fitness, or financial 379 
responsibility. 380 
 3.  The commission shall, by rule, establish criteria 381 
office may not use a credit score or the absence or 382 
insufficiency of credit history information to determine an 383 
applicant's character, general fitness, or financial 384 
responsibility. The criteria must include the following: 385 
 a.  A minimum credit score, as indicated in the cr edit 386 
report authorized by paragraph (2)(g), that is deemed to 387 
demonstrate an applicant's character, general fitness, and 388 
financial responsibility. 389 
 b.  For an applicant who does not meet the established 390 
minimum credit score, a standard review procedure to determine 391 
the applicant's character, general fitness, and financial 392 
responsibility. 393 
 394 
The absence or insufficiency of credit history information on an 395 
applicant may not be used as a criterion to determine the 396 
applicant's character, general fitness, and fina ncial 397 
responsibility. 398 
 4.  If information contained in a credit report is used as 399 
the basis for denying a license, the office shall, in accordance 400     
 
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with s. 120.60(3), provide with particularity the grounds or 401 
basis for denial. The use of the terms "poor credit history," 402 
"poor credit rating," or similar language does not meet the 403 
requirements of this paragraph. 404 
 (7)  All loan originator licenses must be renewed annually 405 
by December 31 pursuant to s. 494.00313. If a person holding an 406 
active loan originator license has not applied to renew the 407 
license on or before December 31, the loan originator license 408 
expires on December 31. If a person holding an active loan 409 
originator license has applied to renew the license on or before 410 
December 31, the loan originator license remains active until 411 
the renewal application is approved or denied. A loan originator 412 
is not precluded from reapplying for licensure upon expiration 413 
of a previous license. 414 
 Section 5.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 415 
494.00313, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (f), 416 
paragraph (b) of subsection (1) is amended, and a new paragraph 417 
(e) is added to that subsection, to read: 418 
 494.00313  Loan originator license renewal. — 419 
 (1)  In order to renew a loan originator license, a loan 420 
originator must: 421 
 (b)  Submit a nonrefundable renewal fee of $150 and, the 422 
$20 nonrefundable fee if required by s. 494.00172 , and 423 
nonrefundable fees to cover the cost of further fingerprint 424 
processing and retention as set forth in commission rule . 425     
 
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 (e)  Submit fingerprints to the registry for submission to 426 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a federal criminal 427 
background history check. 428 
 1.  The costs of fingerprint processing shall be borne by 429 
the person subject to the background check. 430 
 2.  The office shall review the result of the federal 431 
criminal history background check and determine whether the 432 
licensee continues to meet licensure requirements. 433 
 Section 6.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (2), subsection 434 
(3), paragraph (b) of subsection (4), and subsec tion (7) of 435 
section 494.00321, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 436 
 494.00321  Mortgage broker license. — 437 
 (2)  In order to apply for a mortgage broker license, an 438 
applicant must: 439 
 (d)  Submit fingerprints to the registry for each of the 440 
applicant's control persons for submission to the Federal Bureau 441 
of Investigation for a federal criminal history background 442 
check. in accordance with rules adopted by the commission: 443 
 1.  The fingerprints may be submitted to the registry, the 444 
office, or a vendor acting on behalf of the registry or the 445 
office. 446 
 2.  The office may contract with a third -party vendor to 447 
provide live-scan fingerprinting. 448 
 3.  A state criminal history background check must be 449 
conducted through the Department of Law Enforcement, and a 450     
 
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federal criminal history background check must be conducted 451 
through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 452 
 4.  All fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law 453 
Enforcement must be submitted electronically and entered into 454 
the statewide automated biometric identific ation system 455 
established in s. 943.05(2)(b) and available for use in 456 
accordance with s. 943.05(2)(g) and (h). The office shall pay an 457 
annual fee to the department to participate in the system and 458 
inform the department of any person whose fingerprints are n o 459 
longer required to be retained. 460 
 1.5. The costs of fingerprint processing , including the 461 
cost of retaining the fingerprints, shall be borne by the person 462 
subject to the background check. 463 
 2.6. The office shall review is responsible for reviewing 464 
the results of the state and federal criminal history background 465 
checks and determine determining whether the applicant meets 466 
licensure requirements. 467 
 (3)  An application is considered received for the purposes 468 
of s. 120.60 upon the office's receipt of all docum entation from 469 
the registry, including the completed application form, criminal 470 
history information, and independent credit report, as well as 471 
the license application fee and, the fee required by s. 472 
494.00172, and all applicable fingerprinting processing fe es. 473 
 (4)  The office shall issue a mortgage broker license to 474 
each person who is not otherwise ineligible and who meets the 475     
 
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requirements of this section. However, it is a ground for denial 476 
of licensure if the applicant or one of the applicant's control 477 
persons: 478 
 (b)  Has failed to demonstrate the character, general 479 
fitness, and financial responsibility necessary to command the 480 
confidence of the community and warrant a determination that the 481 
applicant will operate honestly, fairly, and efficiently. 482 
 1.  If the office has information that could form the basis 483 
for license denial under this paragraph, before denying the 484 
license, the office must notify the applicant in writing of the 485 
specific items of concern and provide the applicant with an 486 
opportunity to expla in the circumstances surrounding the 487 
specific items and provide any information that the applicant 488 
believes is relevant to the office's determination. 489 
 2.  For purposes of evaluating adverse information found in 490 
an applicant's credit report, the informatio n must be considered 491 
within the totality of the circumstances. Information provided 492 
by the applicant under subparagraph 1., or information obtained 493 
by the office by other means, may be used to provide a context 494 
for the adverse items. For example, the adver se items may have 495 
resulted from factors that do not necessarily reflect negatively 496 
upon the applicant's character, general fitness, or financial 497 
responsibility. 498 
 3.  The commission shall, by rule, establish criteria 499 
office may not use a credit score or the absence or 500     
 
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insufficiency of credit history information to determine an 501 
applicant's character, general fitness, or financial 502 
responsibility. The criteria must include the following: 503 
 a.  A minimum credit score, as indicated in the credit 504 
report authorized by paragraph (2)(e), that is deemed to 505 
demonstrate an applicant's character, general fitness, and 506 
financial responsibility. 507 
 b.  For an applicant who does not meet the established 508 
minimum credit score, a standard review procedure to determine 509 
the applicant's character, general fitness, and financial 510 
responsibility. 511 
 512 
The absence or insufficiency of credit history information on an 513 
applicant may not be used as a criterion to determine the 514 
applicant's character, general fitness, and financial 515 
responsibility. 516 
 4.  If information contained in a credit report is used as 517 
the basis for denying a license, the office shall, in accordance 518 
with s. 120.60(3), provide with particularity the grounds or 519 
basis for denial. The use of the terms "poor credit history," 520 
"poor credit rating," or similar language does not meet the 521 
requirements of this paragraph. 522 
 (7)  All mortgage broker licenses must be renewed annually 523 
by December 31 pursuant to s. 494.00322. If a person holding an 524 
active mortgage broker license has not applied to renew the 525     
 
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license on or before December 31, the mortgage broker license 526 
expires on December 31. If a person holding an active mortgage 527 
broker license has applied to renew the license on or before 528 
December 31, the mortgage broker license remains active unt il 529 
the renewal application is approved or denied. A mortgage broker 530 
is not precluded from reapplying for licensure upon expiration 531 
of a previous license. 532 
 Section 7.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 533 
494.00322, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (d), 534 
and paragraphs (b) and (c) and present paragraph (d) of 535 
subsection (1) are amended to read: 536 
 494.00322  Mortgage broker license renewal. — 537 
 (1)  In order to renew a mortgage broker license, a 538 
mortgage broker must: 539 
 (b)  Submit a nonrefund able renewal fee of $375 and, the 540 
$100 nonrefundable fee if required by s. 494.00172 , and 541 
nonrefundable fees to cover the cost of further fingerprint 542 
processing and retention as set forth in commission rule . 543 
 (c)  Submit fingerprints to the registry for ea ch of the 544 
licensee's in accordance with s. 494.00321(2)(d) for any new 545 
control persons for submission to the Federal Bureau of 546 
Investigation for a federal criminal history background check 547 
who have not been screened . 548 
 1.  The costs of fingerprint processin g shall be borne by 549 
the person subject to the background check. 550     
 
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 2.  The office shall review the results of the federal 551 
criminal history background checks and determine whether the 552 
licensee continues to meet licensure requirements. 553 
 (d)  Authorize the regi stry to obtain an independent credit 554 
report on each of the licensee's control persons from a consumer 555 
reporting agency, and transmit or provide access to the report 556 
to the office. The cost of the credit report shall be borne by 557 
the licensee. 558 
 Section 8.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (2), subsection 559 
(3), paragraph (b) of subsection (4), and subsection (10) of 560 
section 494.00611, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 561 
 494.00611  Mortgage lender license. — 562 
 (2)  In order to apply for a mortgage lender license, an 563 
applicant must: 564 
 (d)  Submit fingerprints to the registry for each of the 565 
applicant's control persons for submission to the Federal Bureau 566 
of Investigation for a federal criminal history background 567 
check. in accordance with rules adopted by the commiss ion: 568 
 1.  The fingerprints may be submitted to the registry, the 569 
office, or a vendor acting on behalf of the registry or the 570 
office. 571 
 2.  The office may contract with a third -party vendor to 572 
provide live-scan fingerprinting. 573 
 3.  A state criminal history b ackground check must be 574 
conducted through the Department of Law Enforcement, and a 575     
 
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federal criminal history background check must be conducted 576 
through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 577 
 4.  All fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law 578 
Enforcement must be submitted electronically and entered into 579 
the statewide automated biometric identification system 580 
established in s. 943.05(2)(b) and available for use in 581 
accordance with s. 943.05(2)(g) and (h). The office shall pay an 582 
annual fee to the department to participate in the system and 583 
inform the department of any person whose fingerprints are no 584 
longer required to be retained. 585 
 1.5. The costs of fingerprint processing , including the 586 
cost of retaining the fingerprints, shall be borne by the person 587 
subject to the background check. 588 
 2.6. The office shall review is responsible for reviewing 589 
the results of the state and federal criminal history background 590 
checks and determine determining whether the applicant meets 591 
licensure requirements. 592 
 (3)  An application is considered received for the purposes 593 
of s. 120.60 upon the office's receipt of all documentation from 594 
the registry, including the completed application form, criminal 595 
history information, and independent credit report, as well as 596 
the license applicat ion fee and, the fee required under s. 597 
494.00172, and all applicable fingerprinting processing fees . 598 
 (4)  The office shall issue a mortgage lender license to 599 
each person who is not otherwise ineligible and who meets the 600     
 
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requirements of this section. Howev er, it is a ground for denial 601 
of licensure if the applicant or one of the applicant's control 602 
persons: 603 
 (b)  Has failed to demonstrate the character, general 604 
fitness, and financial responsibility necessary to command the 605 
confidence of the community and war rant a determination that the 606 
applicant will operate honestly, fairly, and efficiently. 607 
 1.  If the office has information that could form the basis 608 
for license denial under this paragraph, before denying the 609 
license, the office must notify the applicant i n writing of the 610 
specific items of concern and provide the applicant with an 611 
opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding the 612 
specific items and provide any information that the applicant 613 
believes is relevant to the office's determination. 614 
 2.  For purposes of evaluating adverse information found in 615 
an applicant's credit report, the information must be considered 616 
within the totality of the circumstances. Information provided 617 
by the applicant under subparagraph 1., or information obtained 618 
by the office by other means, may be used to provide a context 619 
for the adverse items. For example, the adverse items may have 620 
resulted from factors that do not necessarily reflect negatively 621 
upon the applicant's character, general fitness, or financial 622 
responsibility. 623 
 3.  The commission shall, by rule, establish criteria 624 
office may not use a credit score or the absence or 625     
 
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insufficiency of credit history information to determine an 626 
applicant's character, general fitness, or financial 627 
responsibility. The criteria must include the following: 628 
 a.  A minimum credit score, as indicated in the credit 629 
report authorized under paragraph (2)(g), that is deemed to 630 
demonstrate an applicant's character, general fitness, and 631 
financial responsibility. 632 
 b.  For an applicant who does n ot meet the established 633 
minimum credit score, a standard review procedure to determine 634 
the applicant's character, general fitness, and financial 635 
responsibility. 636 
 637 
The absence or insufficiency of credit history information on an 638 
applicant may not be used as a criterion to determine the 639 
applicant's character, general fitness, and financial 640 
responsibility. 641 
 4.  If information contained in a credit report is used as 642 
the basis for denying a license, the office shall, in accordance 643 
with s. 120.60(3), provide with particularity the grounds or 644 
basis for denial. The use of the terms "poor credit history," 645 
"poor credit rating," or similar language does not meet the 646 
requirements of this paragraph. 647 
 (10)  All mortgage lender licenses must be renewed annually 648 
by December 31 pursuant to s. 494.00612. If a person holding an 649 
active mortgage lender license has not applied to renew the 650     
 
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license on or before December 31, the mortgage lender license 651 
expires on December 31. If a person holding an active mortgage 652 
lender license has applied to renew the license on or before 653 
December 31, the mortgage lender license remains active until 654 
the renewal application is approved or denied. A mortgage lender 655 
is not precluded from reapplying for licensure upon expiration 656 
of a previous license. 657 
 Section 9.  Paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of section 658 
494.00612, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (d), 659 
and paragraphs (b), (c), and (e) and present paragraph (d) of 660 
subsection (1) are amended to read: 661 
 494.00612  Mortgage lender license re newal.— 662 
 (1)  In order to renew a mortgage lender license, a 663 
mortgage lender must: 664 
 (b)  Submit a nonrefundable renewal fee of $475 and, the 665 
$100 nonrefundable fee if required by s. 494.00172 , and 666 
nonrefundable fees to cover the cost of further fingerprint 667 
processing and retention as set forth in commission rule . 668 
 (c)  Submit fingerprints to the registry for each of the 669 
licensee's in accordance with s. 494.00611(2)(d) for any new 670 
control persons for submission to the Federal Bureau of 671 
Investigation for a fe deral criminal history background check 672 
who have not been screened . 673 
 1.  The costs of fingerprint processing shall be borne by 674 
the person subject to the background check. 675     
 
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 2.  The office shall review the results of the federal 676 
criminal history background c hecks and determine whether the 677 
licensee continues to meet licensure requirements. 678 
 (d)  Provide proof that the mortgage lender continues to 679 
meet the applicable net worth requirement in a form prescribed 680 
by commission rule. 681 
 (e)  Authorize the registry to obtain an independent credit 682 
report on each of the mortgage lender's control persons from a 683 
consumer reporting agency, and transmit or provide access to the 684 
report to the office. The cost of the credit report shall be 685 
borne by the licensee. 686 
 Section 10.  Section 501.2076, Florida Statutes, is created 687 
to read: 688 
 501.2076  Violations involving consumer financial 689 
institution account fees. —A third-party agent or entity that 690 
directly or indirectly imposes a fee or other charge on a 691 
consumer for an online audit verification of an account 692 
maintained by a financial institution as defined in s. 655.005, 693 
or for an online audit verification of the associated balance of 694 
such account, violates this part. 695 
 Section 11.  Section 518.117, Florida Statutes, is amended 696 
to read: 697 
 518.117  Permissible investments of fiduciary funds. —A 698 
fiduciary that is authorized by lawful authority to engage in 699 
trust business as defined in s. 658.12 s. 658.12(20) may invest 700     
 
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fiduciary funds in accordance with s. 660.417 so long as the 701 
investment otherwise complies with this chapter. 702 
 Section 12.  Part V of chapter 559, Florida Statutes, 703 
consisting of sections 559.541, 559.542, 559.543, 559.544, 704 
559.545, 559.546, 559.547, and 559.548, Florida Statutes, is 705 
repealed. 706 
 Section 13.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 707 
559.952, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 708 
 559.952  Financial Technology Sandbox. — 709 
 (4)  EXCEPTIONS TO GENERAL LAW AND WAIVERS OF RULE 710 
REQUIREMENTS.— 711 
 (a)  Notwithstanding any other law, upon approval of a 712 
Financial Technology Sandbox application, the following 713 
provisions and corresponding rule requirements are not 714 
applicable to the licensee during the sandbox period: 715 
 1.  Section 516.03(1), except for the application fee, the 716 
investigation fee, the requirement to provi de the social 717 
security numbers of control persons, evidence of liquid assets 718 
of at least $25,000, and the office's authority to investigate 719 
the applicant's background. The office may prorate the license 720 
renewal fee for an extension granted under subsection (7). 721 
 2.  Section 516.05(1) and (2), except that the office shall 722 
investigate the applicant's background. 723 
 3.  Section 560.109, only to the extent that the section 724 
requires the office to examine a licensee at least once every 5 725     
 
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years. 726 
 4.  Section 560.118 560.118(2). 727 
 5.  Section 560.125(1), only to the extent that the 728 
subsection would prohibit a licensee from engaging in the 729 
business of a money transmitter or payment instrument seller 730 
during the sandbox period. 731 
 6.  Section 560.125(2), only to the extent that the 732 
subsection would prohibit a licensee from appointing an 733 
authorized vendor during the sandbox period. Any authorized 734 
vendor of such a licensee during the sandbox period remains 735 
liable to the holder or remitter. 736 
 7.  Section 560.128. 737 
 8.  Section 560.141, except for s. 560.141(1)(a)1., 3., 7. -738 
10. and (b), (c), and (d). 739 
 9.  Section 560.142(1) and (2), except that the office may 740 
prorate, but may not entirely eliminate, the license renewal 741 
fees in s. 560.143 for an extension granted under subsection 742 
(7). 743 
 10.  Section 560.143(2), only to the extent necessary for 744 
proration of the renewal fee under subparagraph 9. 745 
 11.  Section 560.204(1), only to the extent that the 746 
subsection would prohibit a licensee from engaging in, or 747 
advertising that it engages i n, the selling or issuing of 748 
payment instruments or in the activity of a money transmitter 749 
during the sandbox period. 750     
 
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 12.  Section 560.205(2). 751 
 13.  Section 560.208(2). 752 
 14.  Section 560.209, only to the extent that the office 753 
may modify, but may not enti rely eliminate, the net worth, 754 
corporate surety bond, and collateral deposit amounts required 755 
under that section. The modified amounts must be in such lower 756 
amounts that the office determines to be commensurate with the 757 
factors under paragraph (5)(c) and t he maximum number of 758 
consumers authorized to receive the financial product or service 759 
under this section. 760 
 Section 14.  Subsections (6) through (12) and (14) through 761 
(35) of section 560.103, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as 762 
subsections (5) through (11 ) and (12) through (33), 763 
respectively, and subsections (3) and (4) and present 764 
subsections (5), (6), (8), (9), (13), (15), (17), and (20) of 765 
that section are amended to read: 766 
 560.103  Definitions. —As used in this chapter, the term: 767 
 (3)  "Authorized vendo r" means a person designated by a 768 
money services business licensed under part II of this chapter 769 
to act only as a money transmitter or payment instrument seller 770 
on behalf of the licensee at locations in this state pursuant to 771 
a written contract with the li censee. 772 
 (4)  "Branch office" means the physical location, other 773 
than the principal place of business, of a money services 774 
business operated by a licensee under this chapter. The term 775     
 
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includes: 776 
 (a)  The physical location of a kiosk, automated teller 777 
machine, or similar device from which a licensee conducts money 778 
services business transactions under this part; or 779 
 (b)  A motor vehicle or mobile unit that can be driven to a 780 
physical location where money services business activities under 781 
this part occur. 782 
 (5)  "Cashing" means providing currency for payment 783 
instruments except for travelers checks. 784 
 (5)(6) "Check casher" has the same meaning as the term 785 
"check casher" provided in 31 C.F.R. s. 1010.100(ff)(2), in 786 
effect on February 25, 2014 means a person who s ells currency in 787 
exchange for payment instruments received, except travelers 788 
checks. 789 
 (7)(8) "Compliance officer" means the individual 790 
designated by the money services business on the most recent 791 
application form or amendment thereto who is responsible fo r 792 
ensuring compliance with: 793 
 (a)  The money services business's anti -money laundering 794 
program. 795 
 (b)  All applicable state and federal money services 796 
businesses laws and rules. 797 
 (c)  All applicable state and federal laws and rules 798 
related to the detection a nd prevention of money laundering, 799 
including, but not limited to, applicable rules under 31 C.F.R. 800     
 
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parts 1010 and 1022 in effect on October 26, 2010. 801 
 (d)  This chapter and the rules in chapter 69V -560, Florida 802 
Administrative Code in charge of overseeing, managing, and 803 
ensuring that a money services business is in compliance with 804 
all state and federal laws and rules relating to money services 805 
businesses, as applicable, including all money laundering laws 806 
and rules. 807 
 (8)(9) "Conductor" means a natural perso n who presents 808 
himself or herself to a licensee for purposes of cashing a 809 
corporate payment instrument to a check casher and is an 810 
authorized officer, as defined in s. 560.309(4), of the payee . 811 
 (13)  "Department" means the Department of Financial 812 
Services. 813 
 (13)(15) "Financial audit report" means a report prepared 814 
in connection with a financial audit that is conducted in 815 
accordance with generally accepted auditing standards prescribed 816 
by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants by a 817 
certified public accountant licensed to do business in the 818 
United States, and which must include: 819 
 (a)  Financial statements, balance sheets, income 820 
statements, statements of cash flow, including notes related to 821 
the financial statements , and required supplementar y 822 
information, prepared in conformity with accounting principles 823 
generally accepted in the United States. The notes must, at a 824 
minimum, include detailed disclosures regarding receivables that 825     
 
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are greater than 90 days, if the total amount of such 826 
receivables represents more than 2 percent of the licensee's 827 
total assets. 828 
 (b)  An expression of opinion regarding whether the 829 
financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting 830 
principles generally accepted in the United States, or an 831 
assertion to the effect that such an opinion cannot be expressed 832 
and the reasons. 833 
 (c)  A signed and dated cover letter from the certified 834 
public accountant. 835 
 (15)(17) "Foreign currency exchanger" has the same meaning 836 
as the term "dealer in foreign exchange" provided in 31 C.F.R. 837 
s. 1010.100(ff)(1), in effect on February 25, 2014 means a 838 
person who exchanges, for compensation, currency of the United 839 
States or a foreign government to currency of another 840 
government. 841 
 (18)(20) "Location" means a branch office , mobile 842 
location, or location of an authorized vendor whose business 843 
activity is regulated under this chapter. 844 
 Section 15.  Section 560.104, Florida Statutes is amended 845 
to read: 846 
 560.104  Exemptions. — 847 
 (1) The following entities are exempt from the provisions 848 
of this chapter: 849 
 (a)(1) Banks, credit card banks, credit unions, trust 850     
 
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companies, associations, offices of an international banking 851 
corporation, Edge Act or agreement corporations, or other 852 
financial depository institutions organized under the laws of 853 
any state or the United States. 854 
 (b)(2) The United States or any agency or instrumentality 855 
thereof. 856 
 (c)(3) This state or any political subdivision of this 857 
state or a contractor of this state or of any political 858 
subdivision of this state . 859 
 (2)  The following entities are exempt from the license 860 
requirements of parts I and II of this chapter: 861 
 (a)  A person appointed by a payee to collect and process 862 
payments as the bona fide agent of the payee, provided that the 863 
person can demonstrate all of the following to the office upon 864 
request: 865 
 1.  There exists a written agreement between the payee and 866 
the agent directing the agent to collect and process payments on 867 
the payee's behalf. 868 
 2.  The payee holds the agent out to the public as 869 
accepting payments on the payee's behalf. 870 
 3.  Payment is treated as received by the payee upon 871 
receipt by the agent. 872 
 (b)  A person registered as a securities broker -dealer 873 
under chapter 517, to the extent the person's money transmission 874 
activities are ancillary to the person's operation as a broker-875     
 
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dealer. 876 
 (c)  A contractor for and on behalf of the United States or 877 
any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States, 878 
or a contractor for and on behalf of any state or a political 879 
subdivision of any state, that provides electron ic funds 880 
transfer of government benefits for any federal, state, or 881 
county governmental agency. As used in this paragraph, the term 882 
"electronic funds transfer" means any transfer of funds that is 883 
initiated through an electronic terminal, telephone, compute r, 884 
or magnetic tape for the purpose of ordering, instructing, or 885 
authorizing a financial institution to debit or credit a 886 
consumer's account. The term includes, but is not limited to: 887 
 1.  Point-of-sale transfers. 888 
 2.  Automated teller machine transfers. 889 
 3.  Direct deposits or withdrawals of funds. 890 
 4.  Transfers initiated by telephone. 891 
 5.  Transfers resulting from debit card transactions, 892 
regardless of whether initiated through an electronic terminal. 893 
 Section 16.  Subsection (1) of section 560.105, Fl orida 894 
Statutes, is amended to read: 895 
 560.105  Supervisory powers; rulemaking. — 896 
 (1)  The office is responsible for the administration and 897 
enforcement of this chapter and shall: 898 
 (a)  Supervise all money services businesses and their 899 
authorized vendors. 900     
 
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 (b)  Have access to the books and records of persons the 901 
office supervises as necessary to carry out the duties and 902 
functions of the office under this chapter. 903 
 (c)  Issue orders and declaratory statements, disseminate 904 
information, and otherwise administer a nd enforce this chapter 905 
and all related rules in order to effectuate the purposes, 906 
policies, and provisions of this chapter. 907 
 Section 17.  Section 560.107, Florida Statutes, is 908 
repealed. 909 
 Section 18.  Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraph (a) of 910 
subsection (3) of section 560.109, Florida Statutes, are amended 911 
to read: 912 
 560.109  Examinations and investigations. —The office may 913 
conduct examinations and investigations, within or outside this 914 
state to determine whether a person has violated any provision 915 
of this chapter and related rules, or of any practice or conduct 916 
that creates the likelihood of material loss, insolvency, or 917 
dissipation of the assets of a money services business or 918 
otherwise materially prejudices the interests of their 919 
customers. 920 
 (1)  The office may, without advance notice, examine or 921 
investigate each licensee as often as is warranted for the 922 
protection of customers and in the public interest. However, The 923 
office must examine each licensee at least once every 5 years. 924 
The office may waive the 5-year examination requirement if the 925     
 
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licensee's most recent examination resulted in an examination 926 
report that contains no findings of alleged violations. The 927 
waiver may occur only once within a consecutive 10 -year period. 928 
However, the waiver is not a vailable for a check casher that 929 
cashed corporate payment instruments during the preceding 5 930 
years. The office may, without advance notice, examine or 931 
investigate a money services business, authorized vendor, 932 
affiliated party, or license applicant at any t ime if the office 933 
suspects that the money services business, authorized vendor, 934 
affiliated party, or license applicant has violated or is about 935 
to violate any provision of this chapter or any criminal law of 936 
this state or of the United States. 937 
 (2)  The office may conduct a joint or concurrent 938 
examination with any state or federal regulatory agency and may 939 
furnish a copy of all examinations to an appropriate regulator 940 
if the regulator agrees to abide by the confidentiality 941 
provisions in chapter 119 and this chapter. The office may also 942 
accept an examination from any appropriate regulator or, 943 
pursuant to s. 560.1091, from an independent third party that 944 
has been approved by the office . 945 
 (3)  Persons subject to this chapter who are examined or 946 
investigated shall make available to the office all books, 947 
accounts, documents, files, information, assets, and matters 948 
that are in their immediate possession or control and that 949 
relate to the subject of the examination or investigation. 950     
 
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 (a)  Records not in their immedia te possession must be made 951 
available to the office within 3 business days after actual 952 
notice is served. 953 
 Section 19.  Section 560.1091, Florida Statutes, is 954 
repealed. 955 
 Section 20.  Section 560.1092, Florida Statutes, is 956 
repealed. 957 
 Section 21.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 958 
560.111, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 959 
 560.111  Prohibited acts. — 960 
 (1)  A money services business, authorized vendor, or 961 
affiliated party may not: 962 
 (b)  Embezzle, convert abstract, or misappropriate misapply 963 
any money, property, or thing of value belonging to the money 964 
services business, an authorized vendor, or customer with intent 965 
to deceive or defraud. 966 
 Section 22.  Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section 967 
560.114, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (2), 968 
(3), and (4), respectively, subsection (1) and present 969 
subsection (2) are amended, and a new subsection (5) is added to 970 
that section, to read: 971 
 560.114  Disciplinary actions; penalties. — 972 
 (1)  The following actions by a money services busi ness, 973 
authorized vendor, compliance officer, or affiliated party 974 
constitute grounds for the issuance of a cease and desist order; 975     
 
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the issuance of a removal order; the denial, suspension, or 976 
revocation of a license; or taking any other action within the 977 
authority of the office pursuant to this chapter: 978 
 (a)  Failure to comply with any provision of this chapter 979 
or related rule or order, or any written agreement entered into 980 
with the office. 981 
 (b)  Fraud, misrepresentation, deceit, or gross negligence 982 
in any transaction by a money services business, regardless of 983 
reliance thereon by, or damage to, a customer. 984 
 (c)  Fraudulent misrepresentation, circumvention, or 985 
concealment of any matter that must be stated or furnished to a 986 
customer pursuant to this chapter, re gardless of reliance 987 
thereon by, or damage to, such customer. 988 
 (d)  False, deceptive, or misleading advertising. 989 
 (e)  Failure to maintain, preserve, keep available for 990 
examination, and produce all books, accounts, files, or other 991 
documents required by thi s chapter or related rules or orders, 992 
by 31 C.F.R. ss. 1010.306, 1010.311, 1010.312, 1010.340, 993 
1010.410, 1010.415, 1022.210, 1022.320, 1022.380, and 1022.410, 994 
or by an agreement entered into with the office. 995 
 (f)  Refusing to allow the examination or inspe ction of 996 
books, accounts, files, or other documents by the office 997 
pursuant to this chapter, or to comply with a subpoena issued by 998 
the office. 999 
 (g)  Failure to pay a judgment recovered in any court by a 1000     
 
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claimant in an action arising out of a money transmis sion 1001 
transaction within 30 days after the judgment becomes final. 1002 
 (h)  Engaging in an act prohibited under s. 560.111. 1003 
 (i)  Insolvency. 1004 
 (j)  Failure by a money services business to remove an 1005 
affiliated party after the office has issued and served upon t he 1006 
money services business a final order setting forth a finding 1007 
that the affiliated party has violated a provision of this 1008 
chapter. 1009 
 (k)  Making a material misstatement, misrepresentation, or 1010 
omission in an application for licensure, any amendment to such 1011 
application, or application for the appointment of an authorized 1012 
vendor. 1013 
 (l)  Committing any act that results in a license or its 1014 
equivalent, to practice any profession or occupation being 1015 
denied, suspended, revoked, or otherwise acted against by a 1016 
licensing authority in any jurisdiction. 1017 
 (m)  Being the subject of final agency action or its 1018 
equivalent, issued by an appropriate regulator, for engaging in 1019 
unlicensed activity as a money services business or deferred 1020 
presentment provider in any jurisdiction. 1021 
 (n)  Committing any act resulting in a license or its 1022 
equivalent to practice any profession or occupation being 1023 
denied, suspended, revoked, or otherwise acted against by a 1024 
licensing authority in any jurisdiction for a violation of 18 1025     
 
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U.S.C. s. 1956, 18 U .S.C. s. 1957, 18 U.S.C. s. 1960, 31 U.S.C. 1026 
s. 5324, or any other law or rule of another state or of the 1027 
United States relating to a money services business, deferred 1028 
presentment provider, or usury that may cause the denial, 1029 
suspension, or revocation of a money services business or 1030 
deferred presentment provider license or its equivalent in such 1031 
jurisdiction. 1032 
 (o)  Having been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty 1033 
or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, any felony or 1034 
crime that punishable by imprisonment of 1 year or more under 1035 
the law of any state or the United States which involves fraud, 1036 
dishonesty, breach of trust, money laundering, or act of moral 1037 
turpitude, or dishonest dealing, regardless of adjudication . 1038 
 (p)  Having been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty 1039 
or nolo contendere to, a crime under 18 U.S.C. s. 1956 or 31 1040 
U.S.C. s. 5324, regardless of adjudication. 1041 
 (q)  Having been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty 1042 
or nolo contendere to, misappropriation, conversion, or unlawfu l 1043 
withholding of moneys belonging to others, regardless of 1044 
adjudication. 1045 
 (r)  Failure to inform the office in writing within 30 days 1046 
after having pled guilty or nolo contendere to, or being 1047 
convicted of, any felony or crime punishable by imprisonment of 1048 
1 year or more under the law of any state or the United States, 1049 
or any crime involving fraud, moral turpitude, or dishonest 1050     
 
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dealing. 1051 
 (r)(s) Aiding, assisting, procuring, advising, or abetting 1052 
any person in violating a provision of this chapter or any orde r 1053 
or rule of the office or commission. 1054 
 (s)(t) Failure to pay any fee, charge, or cost imposed or 1055 
assessed under this chapter. 1056 
 (t)(u) Failing to pay a fine assessed by the office within 1057 
30 days after the due date as stated in a final order. 1058 
 (u)(v) Failure to pay any judgment entered by any court 1059 
within 30 days after the judgment becomes final. 1060 
 (v)(w) Engaging or advertising engagement in the business 1061 
of a money services business or deferred presentment provider 1062 
without a license, unless exempted from licensure. 1063 
 (w)(x) Payment to the office for a license or other fee, 1064 
charge, cost, or fine with a ch eck or electronic transmission of 1065 
funds that is dishonored by the applicant's or licensee's 1066 
financial institution. 1067 
 (x)(y) Violations of 31 C.F.R. ss. 1010.306, 1010.311, 1068 
1010.312, 1010.340, 1010.410, 1010.415, 1022.210, 1022.320, 1069 
1022.380, and 1022.410, and United States Treasury Interpretive 1070 
Release 2004-1. 1071 
 (y)(z) Any practice or conduct that creates the likelihood 1072 
of a material loss, insolvency, or dissipation of assets of a 1073 
money services business or otherwise materially prejudices the 1074 
interests of its customers. 1075     
 
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 (z)(aa) Failure of a check casher to maintain a federally 1076 
insured depository account as required by s. 560.309. 1077 
 (aa)(bb) Failure of a check casher to deposit into its own 1078 
federally insured depository account any payment instrument 1079 
cashed as required by s. 560.309. 1080 
 (bb)(cc) Violating any provision of the Military Lending 1081 
Act, 10 U.S.C. s. 987, or the regulations adopted under that act 1082 
in 32 C.F.R. part 232, in connection with a deferred presentment 1083 
transaction conducted under part IV of t his chapter. 1084 
 (cc)  Failure by a compliance officer to take corrective 1085 
action, despite the compliance officer's knowledge that the 1086 
money services business or affiliated party has repeatedly 1087 
violated the following program, laws, or rules: 1088 
 1.  The money services business's anti -money laundering 1089 
program. 1090 
 2.  All applicable state and federal money services 1091 
businesses laws and rules. 1092 
 3.  All applicable state and federal laws and rules related 1093 
to the detection and prevention of money laundering, including, 1094 
but not limited to, applicable rules under 31 C.F.R. parts 1010 1095 
and 1022 in effect on October 26, 2010. 1096 
 4.  This chapter and the rules in chapter 69V -560, Florida 1097 
Administrative Code. 1098 
 (2)  Pursuant to s. 120.60(6), the office may summarily 1099 
suspend the license of a money services business if the office 1100     
 
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finds that a licensee poses an immediate, serious danger to the 1101 
public health, safety, and welfare. A proceeding in which the 1102 
office seeks the issuance of a final order for the summary 1103 
suspension of a licensee shall be conducted by the commissioner 1104 
of the office, or his or her designee, who shall issue such 1105 
order. The following acts are deemed to constitute an immediate 1106 
and serious danger to the public health, safety, and welfare, 1107 
and the office may immediately suspend the license of a money 1108 
services business if: 1109 
 (a)  The money services business fails to provide to the 1110 
office, upon written request, any of the records required by s. 1111 
560.123, s. 560.1235, s. 560.211, or s. 560.310 or any rule 1112 
adopted under those s ections. The suspension may be rescinded if 1113 
the licensee submits the requested records to the office. 1114 
 (b)  The money services business fails to maintain a 1115 
federally insured depository account as required by s. 560.309. 1116 
 (c)  A natural person required to b e listed on the license 1117 
application for a money services business pursuant to s. 1118 
560.141(1)(a)3. is criminally charged with, or arrested for, a 1119 
crime described in paragraph (1)(o), paragraph (1)(p), or 1120 
paragraph(1)(q). 1121 
 (5)  A natural person fulfilling the duties as a compliance 1122 
officer of a money services business under this chapter is 1123 
responsible for any act of the money services business, an 1124 
authorized vendor acting on behalf of the money services 1125     
 
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business, and an affiliated party that violates this chap ter or 1126 
the anti-money laundering program if the compliance officer: 1127 
 (a)  Should have known of the act or had actual knowledge 1128 
that such act is a violation of this chapter or the anti -money 1129 
laundering program. 1130 
 (b)  Allowed the act to continue without noti fying the 1131 
money services business' board of directors, chief executive 1132 
officer, or president, or a person serving in a similar 1133 
capacity. All notification of a violation of this chapter or the 1134 
anti-money laundering program must be documented in writing. The 1135 
document must be made available to the office upon request and 1136 
must include the date and the person to whom notification was 1137 
provided. 1138 
 Section 23.  Subsection (1) of section 560.118, Florida 1139 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1140 
 560.118  Reports.— 1141 
 (1)  Annual financial audit reports must be filed with the 1142 
office pursuant to this chapter or related rules. The licensee 1143 
shall directly bear the cost of the audit. 1144 
 Section 24.  Subsection (4) of section 560.126, Florida 1145 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1146 
 560.126  Required notice by licensee. — 1147 
 (4)  A licensee that engages in check cashing must notify 1148 
the office within 5 business days after the licensee ceases to 1149 
maintain a federally insured depository account as required by 1150     
 
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s. 560.309(3) and, before resuming check ca shing, must 1151 
reestablish such an account and notify the office of the 1152 
account. 1153 
 Section 25.  Subsection (2) of section 560.128, Florida 1154 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1155 
 560.128  Customer contacts; license display. — 1156 
 (2)  The commission may by rule require a licensee to 1157 
display its license at each location where the licensee engages 1158 
in the activities authorized by the license. 1159 
 Section 26.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) and subsection 1160 
(6) of section 560.129, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 1161 
 560.129 Confidentiality.— 1162 
 (5)  This section does not prevent or restrict: 1163 
 (b)  Furnishing records or information to an appropriate 1164 
regulator or independent third party who has been approved by 1165 
the office to conduct an examination under s. 560.1091, if the 1166 
independent third party adheres to the confidentiality 1167 
provisions of this chapter ; or 1168 
 (6)  All quarterly reports submitted to the office under s. 1169 
560.118 s. 560.118(2) are confidential and exempt from s. 1170 
119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitutio n. 1171 
 Section 27.  Paragraphs (a), (c), and (d) of subsection (1) 1172 
of section 560.141, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 1173 
 560.141  License application. — 1174 
 (1)  To apply for a license as a money services business 1175     
 
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under this chapter, the applicant must su bmit: 1176 
 (a)  An application to the office on forms prescribed by 1177 
rule which includes the following information: 1178 
 1.  The legal name and address of the applicant, including 1179 
any fictitious or trade names used by the applicant in the 1180 
conduct of its business. 1181 
 2.  The date of the applicant's formation and the state in 1182 
which the applicant was formed, if applicable. 1183 
 3.  The name, social security number, alien identification 1184 
or taxpayer identification number, business and residence 1185 
addresses, and employment histor y for the past 5 years for each 1186 
officer, director, responsible person, the compliance officer, 1187 
each controlling shareholder, and any other person who has a 1188 
controlling interest in the money services business as provided 1189 
in s. 560.127. 1190 
 4.  A description of the organizational structure of the 1191 
applicant, including the identity of any parent or subsidiary of 1192 
the applicant, and the disclosure of whether any parent or 1193 
subsidiary is publicly traded. 1194 
 5.  The applicant's history of operations in other states 1195 
if applicable and a description of the money services business 1196 
or deferred presentment provider activities proposed to be 1197 
conducted by the applicant in this state. 1198 
 6.  If the applicant or its parent is a publicly traded 1199 
company, copies of all filings made by t he applicant with the 1200     
 
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United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or with a 1201 
similar regulator in a country other than the United States, 1202 
within the preceding year. 1203 
 7.  The physical address, mailing address, and records 1204 
storage address location at which the applicant proposes to 1205 
establish its principal place of business . The applicant may not 1206 
provide a post office box and any other location, including 1207 
branch offices and authorized vendors operating in this state. 1208 
For each branch office and each locati on of an authorized 1209 
vendor, the applicant shall include the nonrefundable fee 1210 
required by s. 560.143 . 1211 
 8.  The name and address of the clearing financial 1212 
institution or financial institutions through which the 1213 
applicant's payment instruments are drawn or t hrough which the 1214 
payment instruments are payable. 1215 
 9.  The history of the applicant's material litigation, 1216 
criminal convictions, pleas of nolo contendere, and cases of 1217 
adjudication withheld. 1218 
 10.  The history of material litigation, arrests, criminal 1219 
convictions, pleas of nolo contendere, and cases of adjudication 1220 
withheld for each executive officer, director, controlling 1221 
shareholder, and responsible person. 1222 
 11.  The name of the registered agent in this state for 1223 
service of process unless the applicant is a sole proprietor. 1224 
 12.  Any other information specified in this chapter or by 1225     
 
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commission rule. 1226 
 (c)  Fingerprints for each person listed in subparagraph 1227 
(a)3. for live-scan processing in accordance with rules adopted 1228 
by the commission. 1229 
 1.  The fingerprints may be submitted through a third -party 1230 
vendor authorized by the Department of Law Enforcement to 1231 
provide live-scan fingerprinting. 1232 
 2.  The Department of Law Enforcement must conduct the 1233 
state criminal history background check, and a federal criminal 1234 
history background check must be conducted through the Federal 1235 
Bureau of Investigation. 1236 
 3.  All fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law 1237 
Enforcement must be submitted electronically and entered into 1238 
the statewide automated fingerprint identification system 1239 
established in s. 943.05(2)(b) and available for use in 1240 
accordance with s. 943.05(2)(g) and (h). The office shall pay an 1241 
annual fee to the Department of Law Enforcement to participate 1242 
in the system and shall inform the Department of Law Enforcement 1243 
of any person whose fingerprints no longer must be retained. 1244 
 4.  The costs of fingerprint processing, including the cost 1245 
of retaining the fingerprints, shall be borne by the person 1246 
subject to the background check. 1247 
 5.  The office shall review the results of the state and 1248 
federal criminal history background checks and determine whether 1249 
the applicant meets licensure requirements. 1250     
 
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 6.  For purposes of this paragraph, fingerprints are not 1251 
required to be submitted if the applicant is a publicly traded 1252 
corporation or is exempted from this chapter under s. 1253 
560.104(1). The term "publicly traded" means a stock is 1254 
currently traded on a national securities exchange registered 1255 
with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission or traded on 1256 
an exchange in a country oth er than the United States regulated 1257 
by a regulator equivalent to the Securities and Exchange 1258 
Commission and the disclosure and reporting requirements of such 1259 
regulator are substantially similar to those of the commission. 1260 
 7.  Licensees initially approved before October 1, 2013, 1261 
who are seeking renewal must submit fingerprints for each person 1262 
listed in subparagraph (a)3. for live -scan processing pursuant 1263 
to this paragraph. Such fingerprints must be submitted before 1264 
renewing a license that is scheduled to ex pire between April 30, 1265 
2014, and December 31, 2015. 1266 
 (d)  A copy of the applicant's written anti -money 1267 
laundering (AML) program as required under 31 C.F.R. s. 1268 
1022.210. 1269 
 Section 28.  Section 560.203, Florida Statutes, is amended 1270 
to read: 1271 
 560.203  Exemptions from licensure. —Authorized vendors of a 1272 
licensee acting within the scope of authority conferred by the 1273 
licensee are exempt from licensure but are otherwise subject to 1274 
the provisions of this chapter. Licensees may authorize an 1275     
 
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authorized vendor to cond uct activity only as a money 1276 
transmitter or payment instrument seller. 1277 
 Section 29.  Subsection (4) of section 560.205, Florida 1278 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1279 
 560.205  Additional license application requirements. —In 1280 
addition to the license application re quirements under part I of 1281 
this chapter, an applicant seeking a license under this part 1282 
must also submit to the office: 1283 
 (4)  A copy of the applicant's financial audit report for 1284 
the most recent fiscal year. 1285 
 (a) If the applicant is a wholly owned subsidi ary of 1286 
another corporation, the financial audit report on the parent 1287 
corporation's financial statements shall satisfy this 1288 
requirement. 1289 
 (b)  If the applicant was formed within the past 365 days 1290 
and has not reached the inaugural fiscal year end, a financia l 1291 
audit report that is less than 365 days old may be submitted to 1292 
satisfy the initial application requirements. 1293 
 Section 30.  Section 560.2051, Florida Statutes, is created 1294 
to read: 1295 
 560.2051  Branch offices. —In addition to the licensure 1296 
requirements specified in s. 560.205, an applicant or licensee 1297 
that intends to conduct money services business activity through 1298 
a branch office must: 1299 
 (1)  Submit a branch office application form in a manner 1300     
 
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prescribed by commission rule. 1301 
 (2)  Submit a branch office license fee for each branch 1302 
office as required in s. 560.143(1). 1303 
 Section 31.  Subsection (1) of section 560.208, Florida 1304 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1305 
 560.208  Conduct of business. —In addition to the 1306 
requirements specified in s. 560.1401, a licensee un der this 1307 
part: 1308 
 (1)  May conduct its business at one or more locations 1309 
within this state through licensed branches or by means of 1310 
authorized vendors, as designated by the licensee, including the 1311 
conduct of business through electronic transfer, such as by t he 1312 
telephone or the Internet. 1313 
 Section 32.  Subsections (3), (4), (6), and (7) of section 1314 
560.309, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 1315 
 560.309  Conduct of business. — 1316 
 (3)  To cash payment instruments, a licensee under this 1317 
part must maintain and depo sit payment instruments into its own 1318 
commercial account at a federally insured financial institution. 1319 
If a licensee ceases to maintain such a depository account, the 1320 
licensee must immediately cease cashing payment instruments and 1321 
notify the office within 5 business days after the cessation. 1322 
The licensee may resume cashing payment instruments only after 1323 
the licensee has notified the office of the cessation, 1324 
reestablished not engage in check cashing until the licensee 1325     
 
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reestablishes such an account, and notified notifies the office 1326 
of the reestablishment of such an the account as required by s. 1327 
560.126(4). 1328 
 (4)  A licensee may not accept or cash a payment instrument 1329 
from a person who is not the original payee; however, this 1330 
subsection does not prohibit a licens ee from accepting or 1331 
cashing a corporate payment instrument from a conductor who is 1332 
an authorized officer of the corporate payee named on the 1333 
instrument's face. As used in this subsection, the term 1334 
"authorized officer" means a natural person who participat es in, 1335 
or has the authority to participate in, the major policymaking 1336 
functions of a payee, regardless of whether the person has an 1337 
official title or receives a salary or other compensation. 1338 
 (6)  Each branch office location of a licensee where checks 1339 
are cashed must be equipped with a security camera system that 1340 
is capable of recording and retrieving an image in order to 1341 
assist in identifying and apprehending an offender. The licensee 1342 
does not have to install a security camera system if the 1343 
licensee has installed a bulletproof or bullet -resistant 1344 
partition or enclosure in the area where checks are cashed. 1345 
 (7)  The commission may by rule require a check casher to 1346 
display its license and post a notice listing its charges for 1347 
cashing payment instruments. 1348 
 Section 33.  Subsections (5) and (6) of section 560.310, 1349 
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) and (5), 1350     
 
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respectively, and paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of subsection (2) 1351 
and present subsection (4) of that section are amended to read: 1352 
 560.310  Records of check cashers and foreign currency 1353 
exchangers.— 1354 
 (2)  If the payment instrument exceeds $1,000, the 1355 
following additional information must be maintained or 1356 
submitted: 1357 
 (b)  A copy of a valid the personal identification that 1358 
bears a photograph of the customer used as identification and 1359 
presented by the customer. Valid Acceptable personal 1360 
identification is limited to the following documents, which must 1361 
be unexpired: 1362 
 1. A valid driver license; 1363 
 2. A state identification card issued by any state of the 1364 
United States or its territories or the District of Columbia , 1365 
and showing a photograph and signature; 1366 
 3. A United States Government Resident Alien 1367 
Identification Card; 1368 
 4. A passport; or 1369 
 5. A United States Military identification card. 1370 
 (c)  A thumbprint of the customer taken by the licensee 1371 
when the payment instrument is presented for negotiation or 1372 
payment. The thumbprint must be located on the original payment 1373 
instrument presented. 1374 
 (d)  The office shall, at a minimum, require licensee s to 1375     
 
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submit the following information to the check cashing database 1376 
or electronic log, before entering into each check cashing 1377 
transaction for each payment instrument being cashed, in such 1378 
format as required by rule: 1379 
 1.  Transaction date. 1380 
 2.  Payor name as displayed on the payment instrument. 1381 
 3.  Payee name as displayed on the payment instrument. 1382 
 4.  Conductor name, if different from the payee name. 1383 
 5.  Amount of the payment instrument. 1384 
 6.  Amount of currency provided. 1385 
 7.  Type of payment instrument, which may include personal, 1386 
payroll, government, corporate, third -party, or another type of 1387 
instrument. 1388 
 8.  Amount of the fee charged for cashing of the payment 1389 
instrument. 1390 
 9.  Licensed principal place of business or branch office 1391 
or location where the payment instrument was accepted. 1392 
 10.  The type of identification and identification number 1393 
presented by the payee or conductor. 1394 
 11.  Payee's workers' compensation insurance policy number 1395 
or exemption certificate number, if the payee is a business. 1396 
 12.  Such additional information as required by rule. 1397 
 1398 
For purposes of this subsection, multiple payment instruments 1399 
accepted from any one person on any given day which total $1,000 1400     
 
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or more must be aggregated and reported in the check cashing 1401 
database or on the log. 1402 
 (4)  The office shall issue a competitive solicitation as 1403 
provided in s. 287.057 for a statewide, real time, online check 1404 
cashing database to combat fraudulent check cashing activity. 1405 
After completing the competitive solicitation process, but 1406 
before executing a contract, the office may request funds in its 1407 
2014-2015 fiscal year legislative budget request and submit 1408 
necessary draft conforming legislation, if needed, to implement 1409 
this act. 1410 
 Section 34.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 1411 
560.312, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 1412 
 560.312  Database of payment instrument transactions; 1413 
confidentiality.— 1414 
 (2) 1415 
 (b)  The office, to the extent permitted by state and 1416 
federal law, may enter into information -sharing agreements with 1417 
the Department of Financial Services , law enforcement agencies, 1418 
and other governmental agencies and, in accordance with such 1419 
agreements, may provide the department, law enforcement 1420 
agencies, and other governmental agencies with access to 1421 
information contained in the datab ase for use in detecting and 1422 
deterring financial crimes and workers' compensation violations, 1423 
pursuant to chapter 440. Any department or agency that receives 1424 
confidential information from the office under this paragraph 1425     
 
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must maintain the confidentiality of the information, unless, 1426 
and only to the extent that, a court order compels production of 1427 
the information to a specific party or parties. 1428 
 Section 35.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection 1429 
(4) of section 655.045, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 1430 
paragraph (f) is added to subsection (1) of that section, to 1431 
read: 1432 
 655.045  Examinations, reports, and internal audits; 1433 
penalty.— 1434 
 (1)  The office shall conduct an examination of the 1435 
condition of each state financial institution at least every 18 1436 
months. The office may conduct more frequent examinations based 1437 
upon the risk profile of the financial institution, prior 1438 
examination results, or significant changes in the institution 1439 
or its operations. The office may use continuous, phase, or 1440 
other flexible scheduling examination methods for very large or 1441 
complex state financial institutions and financial institutions 1442 
owned or controlled by a multi -financial institution holding 1443 
company. The office shall consider examination guidelines from 1444 
federal regulatory agencies in order to facilitate, coordinate, 1445 
and standardize examination processes. 1446 
 (a)  The office may accept an examination of a state 1447 
financial institution made by an appropriate federal regulatory 1448 
agency or may conduct a joint or concurrent examinati on of the 1449 
institution with the federal agency. However, if the office 1450     
 
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accepts an examination report in accordance with this paragraph, 1451 
the office shall conduct at least once during each 36 -month 1452 
period beginning July 1, 2023 2014, a subsequent the office 1453 
shall conduct an examination of each state financial institution 1454 
in a manner that allows the preparation of a complete 1455 
examination report not subject to the right of a federal or 1456 
other non-Florida entity to limit access to the information 1457 
contained therein. The office may furnish a copy of all 1458 
examinations or reviews made of financial institutions or their 1459 
affiliates to the state or federal agencies participating in the 1460 
examination, investigation, or review, or as otherwise 1461 
authorized under s. 655.057. 1462 
 (f)  In coordinating an examination required under this 1463 
section, if a federal agency suspends or cancels a previously 1464 
scheduled examination of a state financial institution, the 1465 
office has an additional 90 days to meet the examination 1466 
requirement of this secti on. 1467 
 (4)  A copy of the report of each examination must be 1468 
furnished to the state financial institution entity examined and 1469 
presented to the board of directors at its next regular or 1470 
special meeting. Each board director shall review the report and 1471 
acknowledge receipt of the report by signing and dating the 1472 
prescribed signature page of the report and returning a copy of 1473 
the signed page to the office. 1474 
 Section 36.  Section 655.414, Florida Statutes, is amended 1475     
 
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to read: 1476 
 655.414  Acquisition of assets; assumption of liabilities. —1477 
With prior approval of the office and upon such conditions as 1478 
the commission prescribes by rule, a financial institution 1479 
entity may acquire 50 percent or more all or substantially all 1480 
of the assets or liabilities of, or assume all or any part of 1481 
the liabilities of, or a combination of assets and liabilities 1482 
of, any other financial institution in accordance with the 1483 
procedures and subject to the following conditions and 1484 
limitations: 1485 
 (1)  CALCULATION OF ASSET OR LIABILITY PERCENTAGES. —1486 
Percentages of assets or liabilities must be calculated based on 1487 
the most recent quarterly reporting date. 1488 
 (2)(1) ADOPTION OF A PLAN.—The board of directors of the 1489 
acquiring or assuming financial entity and the board o f 1490 
directors of the transferring financial institution must adopt, 1491 
by a majority vote, a plan for such acquisition, assumption, or 1492 
sale on terms that are mutually agreed upon. The plan must 1493 
include: 1494 
 (a)  The names and types of financial institutions 1495 
involved. 1496 
 (b)  A statement setting forth the material terms of the 1497 
proposed acquisition, assumption, or sale, including the plan 1498 
for disposition of all assets and liabilities not subject to the 1499 
plan. 1500     
 
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 (c)  A provision for liquidation, if applicable, of the 1501 
transferring financial institution upon execution of the plan, 1502 
or a provision setting forth the business plan for the continued 1503 
operation of each financial institution after the execution of 1504 
the plan. 1505 
 (d)  A statement that the entire transaction is subject to 1506 
written approval of the office and approval of the members or 1507 
stockholders of the transferring financial institution. 1508 
 (e)  If a stock financial institution is the transferring 1509 
financial institution and the proposed sale is not for cash, a 1510 
clear and concise statement that dissenting stockholders of the 1511 
institution are entitled to the rights set forth in s. 658.44(4) 1512 
and (5). 1513 
 (f)  The proposed effective date of the acquisition, 1514 
assumption, or sale and such other information and provisions as 1515 
necessary to execute the transaction or as required by the 1516 
office. 1517 
 (3)(2) APPROVAL OF OFFICE.—Following approval by the board 1518 
of directors of each participating financial institution, the 1519 
plan, together with certified copies of the authorizing 1520 
resolutions adopted by t he boards and a completed application 1521 
with a nonrefundable filing fee, must be forwarded to the office 1522 
for approval or disapproval. The office shall approve the plan 1523 
of acquisition, assumption, or sale if it appears that: 1524 
 (a)  The resulting financial enti ty or entities would have 1525     
 
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an adequate capital structure in relation to their activities 1526 
and their deposit liabilities; 1527 
 (b)  The plan is fair to all parties; and 1528 
 (c)  The plan is not contrary to the public interest. 1529 
 1530 
If the office disapproves the plan, it shall state its 1531 
objections and give the parties an opportunity to amend the plan 1532 
to overcome such objections. 1533 
 (4)(3) VOTE OF MEMBERS OR STOCKHOLDERS. —If the office 1534 
approves the plan, it may be submitted to the members or 1535 
stockholders of the transferring financial institution at an 1536 
annual meeting or at a special meeting called to consider such 1537 
action. Upon a majority vote of the total number of votes 1538 
eligible to be cast or, in the case of a credit union, a 1539 
majority vote of the members present at the meeti ng, the plan is 1540 
adopted. 1541 
 (5)(4) ADOPTED PLAN; CERTIFICATE; ABANDONMENT. — 1542 
 (a)  If the plan is adopted by the members or stockholders 1543 
of the transferring financial institution, the president or vice 1544 
president and the cashier, manager, or corporate secreta ry of 1545 
such institution shall submit the adopted plan to the office, 1546 
together with a certified copy of the resolution of the members 1547 
or stockholders approving it. 1548 
 (b)  Upon receipt of the certified copies and evidence that 1549 
the participating financial insti tutions have complied with all 1550     
 
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applicable state and federal law and rules, the office shall 1551 
certify, in writing, to the participants that the plan has been 1552 
approved. 1553 
 (c)  Notwithstanding approval of the members or 1554 
stockholders or certification by the offi ce, the board of 1555 
directors of the transferring financial institution may abandon 1556 
such a transaction without further action or approval by the 1557 
members or stockholders, subject to the rights of third parties 1558 
under any contracts relating thereto. 1559 
 (6)(5) FEDERALLY CHARTERED OR OUT -OF-STATE INSTITUTION AS 1560 
A PARTICIPANT.—If one of the participants in a transaction under 1561 
this section is a federally chartered financial institution or 1562 
an out-of-state financial institution, all participants must 1563 
also comply with requirements imposed by federal and other state 1564 
law for the acquisition, assumption, or sale and provide 1565 
evidence of such compliance to the office as a condition 1566 
precedent to the issuance of a certificate authorizing the 1567 
transaction; however, if the purchasi ng or assuming financial 1568 
institution is a federal or out -of-state state-chartered 1569 
financial institution and the transferring state financial 1570 
entity will be liquidated, approval of the office is not 1571 
required. 1572 
 (7)(6) STOCK INSTITUTION ACQUIRING MUTUAL INST ITUTION.—A 1573 
mutual financial institution may not sell 50 percent or more all 1574 
or substantially all of its assets to a stock financial 1575     
 
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institution until it has first converted into a capital stock 1576 
financial institution in accordance with s. 665.033(1) and (2) . 1577 
For this purpose, references in s. 665.033(1) and (2) to 1578 
associations also refer to credit unions but, in the case of a 1579 
credit union, the provision concerning proxy statements does not 1580 
apply. 1581 
 Section 37.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 1582 
655.50, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 1583 
 655.50  Florida Control of Money Laundering and Terrorist 1584 
Financing in Financial Institutions Act. — 1585 
 (3)  As used in this section, the term: 1586 
 (c)  "Financial institution" has the same meaning as in s. 1587 
655.005(1)(i), excluding an international representative office, 1588 
an international administrative office, or a qualified limited 1589 
service affiliate means a financial institution, as defined in 1590 
31 U.S.C. s. 5312, as amended, including a credit card bank, 1591 
located in this state. 1592 
 Section 38.  Subsections (1) through (8) of section 1593 
657.021, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (2) 1594 
through (9), respectively, and a new subsection (1) is added to 1595 
that section to read: 1596 
 657.021  Reports to the office; board of directors; 1597 
executive committee; responsibilities; oaths .— 1598 
 (1)  Within 30 days after an annual meeting or any other 1599 
meeting at which a director, officer, member of the supervisory 1600     
 
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or audit committee, member of the credit committee, or credit 1601 
manager is elected or appointed, a credit union shall submit to 1602 
the office the name and residence address of the elected or 1603 
appointed person on a form prescribed by the commission and 1604 
provided by the office. 1605 
 Section 39.  Subsection (6) of section 657.028, Florida 1606 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1607 
 657.028  Activities of directors, officers, committee 1608 
members, employees, and agents. — 1609 
 (6)  Within 30 days after election or appointment, a record 1610 
of the names and addresses of the members of the board, members 1611 
of committees, all o fficers of the credit union, and the credit 1612 
manager shall be filed with the office on forms prescribed by 1613 
the commission. 1614 
 Section 40.  Subsections (20) through (24) of section 1615 
658.12, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (21) 1616 
through (25), respectively, and a new subsection (20) is added 1617 
to that section to read: 1618 
 658.12  Definitions. —Subject to other definitions contained 1619 
in the financial institutions codes and unless the context 1620 
otherwise requires: 1621 
 (20)  "Target market" means the group of cl ients or 1622 
potential clients from whom: 1623 
 (a)  A bank or proposed bank expects to draw deposits and 1624 
to whom the bank or proposed bank focuses or intends to focus 1625     
 
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its marketing efforts. 1626 
 (b)  A trust company, a trust department of a bank or 1627 
association, a proposed trust company, or a proposed trust 1628 
department of a bank or association expects to draw its 1629 
fiduciary accounts and to whom the trust company, the trust 1630 
department of a bank or association, the proposed trust company, 1631 
or the proposed trust department of a bank or association 1632 
focuses or intends to focus its marketing efforts. 1633 
 Section 41.  Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of 1634 
section 658.20, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 1635 
 658.20  Investigation by office. — 1636 
 (1)  Upon the filing of an appl ication, the office shall 1637 
make an investigation of: 1638 
 (b)  The need for bank or trust facilities or additional 1639 
bank or trust facilities, as the case may be, in the primary 1640 
service area where the proposed bank or trust company is to be 1641 
located or in the target market where the bank or trust company 1642 
intends to engage in business . 1643 
 (c)  The ability of the primary service area or target area 1644 
to support the proposed bank or trust company and all other 1645 
existing bank or trust facilities that serve the same primary 1646 
service area or target market in the primary service area . 1647 
 Section 42.  Subsections (1) and (4) of section 658.21, 1648 
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 1649 
 658.21  Approval of application; findings required. —The 1650     
 
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office shall approve the application if it finds that: 1651 
 (1)  Local and target market conditions indicate reasonable 1652 
promise of successful operation for the proposed state bank or 1653 
trust company. In determining whether an applicant meets the 1654 
requirements of this subsection, the office shall consider all 1655 
materially relevant factors, including: 1656 
 (a)  The purpose, objectives, and business philosophy of 1657 
the proposed state bank or trust company. 1658 
 (b)  The projected financial performance of the proposed 1659 
bank or trust company. 1660 
 (c)  The feasibility of the p roposed bank or trust company, 1661 
as stated in the business plan, particularly with respect to 1662 
asset and liability growth and management. 1663 
 (4)  The proposed officers have sufficient financial 1664 
institution experience, ability, standing, and reputation and 1665 
the proposed directors have sufficient business experience, 1666 
ability, standing, and reputation to indicate reasonable promise 1667 
of successful operation, and none of the proposed officers or 1668 
directors has been convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo 1669 
contendere to, any violation of s. 655.50, relating to the 1670 
control of money laundering and terrorist financing; chapter 1671 
896, relating to offenses related to financial institutions; or 1672 
similar state or federal law. At least two of the proposed 1673 
directors who are not also prop osed officers must have had at 1674 
least 1 year of direct experience as an executive officer, 1675     
 
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regulator, or director of a financial institution within the 5 1676 
years before the date of the application. However, if the 1677 
applicant demonstrates that at least one of t he proposed 1678 
directors has very substantial experience as an executive 1679 
officer, director, or regulator of a financial institution more 1680 
than 5 years before the date of the application, the office may 1681 
modify the requirement and allow the applicant to have onl y one 1682 
director who has direct financial institution experience within 1683 
the last 5 years. The proposed president or chief executive 1684 
officer must have had at least 1 year of direct experience as an 1685 
executive officer, director, or regulator of a financial 1686 
institution within the last 5 years . 1687 
 Section 43.  Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section 1688 
658.28, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (3), 1689 
(4), and (5), respectively, and a new subsection (2) is added to 1690 
that section to read: 1691 
 658.28  Acquisition of control of a bank or trust company. — 1692 
 (2)  If a person or a group of persons, directly or 1693 
indirectly, acquires a controlling interest in a state bank or 1694 
state trust company, as contemplated by this section, through 1695 
probate or trust, the person or gro up of persons shall notify 1696 
the office within 90 days after acquiring such an interest. Such 1697 
an interest does not give rise to a presumption of control until 1698 
the person or group of persons votes the shares or the office 1699 
has issued a certificate of approval in response to an 1700     
 
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application pursuant to subsection (1). 1701 
 Section 44.  Paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection 1702 
(11) of section 658.2953, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 1703 
paragraphs (b), (c), and (d), respectively, and a new paragraph 1704 
(a) is added to that subsection to read: 1705 
 658.2953  Interstate branching. — 1706 
 (11)  DE NOVO INTERSTATE BRANCHING BY STATE BANKS. — 1707 
 (a)  As used in this subsection, the term "de novo branch" 1708 
means a branch of a bank that is originally established by the 1709 
bank as a branch and does not become a branch of such bank as a 1710 
result of: 1711 
 1.  An acquisition by the bank of a depository institution 1712 
or a branch of a depository institution; or 1713 
 2.  A conversion, merger, or consolidation of any 1714 
depository institution or any branch of a depository 1715 
institution. 1716 
 Section 45.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 1717 
662.1225, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 1718 
 662.1225  Requirements for a family trust company, licensed 1719 
family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company. — 1720 
 (1)  A family trust company or a licensed family trust 1721 
company shall maintain: 1722 
 (d)  A deposit account with : 1723 
 1.  A bank located in the United States and insured by the 1724 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; or 1725     
 
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 2.  A credit union located in the United S tates and insured 1726 
by the National Credit Union Administration a state-chartered or 1727 
national financial institution that has a principal or branch 1728 
office in this state . 1729 
 Section 46.  Subsection (1) of section 662.128, Florida 1730 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1731 
 662.128  Annual renewal. — 1732 
 (1)  Within 45 days after the end of each calendar year, A 1733 
family trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign 1734 
licensed family trust company shall file an its annual renewal 1735 
application with the office within 45 days after the anniversary 1736 
of the filing of either the initial application or the prior 1737 
year's renewal application . 1738 
 Section 47.  Subsection (1) of section 663.07, Florida 1739 
Statutes, is amended to read: 1740 
 663.07  Asset maintenance or capital equivalency. — 1741 
 (1) Each international bank agency and international 1742 
branch shall: 1743 
 (a)  Maintain with one or more banks insured by the Federal 1744 
Deposit Insurance Corporation and located within the United 1745 
States in this state, in such amounts as the office specifies, 1746 
evidence of dollar deposits or investment securities of the type 1747 
that may be held by a state bank for its own account pursuant to 1748 
s. 658.67. The aggregate amount of dollar deposits and 1749 
investment securities for an international bank agency or 1750     
 
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international branch shall, at a minimum, equal the greater of: 1751 
 1.  Four million dollars; or 1752 
 2.  Seven percent of the total liabilities of the 1753 
international bank agency or international branch excluding 1754 
accrued expenses and amounts due and other liabilities to 1755 
affiliated branches, offices, agencies, or entities; or 1756 
 (b)  Maintain other appropriate reserves, taking into 1757 
consideration the nature of the business being conducted by the 1758 
international bank agency or international branch. 1759 
 1760 
The commission shall prescribe, by rule, t he deposit, 1761 
safekeeping, pledge, withdrawal, recordkeeping, and other 1762 
arrangements for funds and securities maintained under this 1763 
subsection. The deposits and securities used to satisfy the 1764 
capital equivalency requirements of this subsection shall be 1765 
held, to the extent feasible, in one or more state or national 1766 
banks located in this state or in a federal reserve bank. 1767 
 Section 48.  Subsections (4), (5), and (6) of section 1768 
663.532, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (5), 1769 
(6), and (7), respect ively, paragraphs (i) and (j) of subsection 1770 
(1) are amended, and a new subsection (4) is added to that 1771 
section, to read: 1772 
 663.532  Qualification. — 1773 
 (1)  To qualify as a qualified limited service affiliate 1774 
under this part, a proposed qualified limited servi ce affiliate 1775     
 
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must file a written notice with the office, in the manner and on 1776 
a form prescribed by the commission. Such written notice must 1777 
include: 1778 
 (i)  A declaration under penalty of perjury signed by the 1779 
executive officer, manager, or managing member o f the proposed 1780 
qualified limited service affiliate that, to the best of his or 1781 
her knowledge: 1782 
 1.  No employee, representative, or agent provides, or will 1783 
provide, banking services; promotes or sells, or will promote or 1784 
sell, investments; or accepts, or wi ll accept, custody of 1785 
assets. 1786 
 2.  No employee, representative, or agent acts, or will 1787 
act, as a fiduciary in this state, which includes, but is not 1788 
limited to, accepting the fiduciary appointment, executing the 1789 
fiduciary documents that create the fiduciar y relationship, or 1790 
making discretionary decisions regarding the investment or 1791 
distribution of fiduciary accounts. 1792 
 3.  The jurisdiction of the international trust entity or 1793 
its offices, subsidiaries, or any affiliates that are directly 1794 
involved in or facil itate the financial services functions, 1795 
banking, or fiduciary activities of the international trust 1796 
entity is not listed on the Financial Action Task Force's list 1797 
of High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action or list 1798 
of Jurisdictions under Increa sed Monitoring Force Public 1799 
Statement or on its list of jurisdictions with deficiencies in 1800     
 
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anti-money laundering or counterterrorism . 1801 
 (j)  For each international trust entity that the proposed 1802 
qualified limited service affiliate will provide services for in 1803 
this state, the following: 1804 
 1.  The name of the international trust entity; 1805 
 2.  A list of the current officers and directors of the 1806 
international trust entity; 1807 
 3.  Any country where the international trust entity is 1808 
organized or authorized to do business; 1809 
 4.  The name of the home -country regulator; 1810 
 5.  Proof that the international trust entity has been 1811 
authorized by charter, license, or similar authorization by its 1812 
home-country regulator to engage in trust business; 1813 
 6.  Proof that the internati onal trust entity lawfully 1814 
exists and is in good standing under the laws of the 1815 
jurisdiction where it is chartered, licensed, or organized; 1816 
 7.  A statement that the international trust entity is not 1817 
in bankruptcy, conservatorship, receivership, liquidatio n, or in 1818 
a similar status under the laws of any country; 1819 
 8.  Proof that the international trust entity is not 1820 
operating under the direct control of the government or the 1821 
regulatory or supervisory authority of the jurisdiction of its 1822 
incorporation, through government intervention or any other 1823 
extraordinary actions, and confirmation that it has not been in 1824 
such a status or under such control at any time within the prior 1825     
 
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3 years; 1826 
 9.  Proof and confirmation that the proposed qualified 1827 
limited service affiliat e is affiliated with the international 1828 
trust entities provided in the notice; and 1829 
 10.  Proof that the jurisdictions where the international 1830 
trust entity or its offices, subsidiaries, or any affiliates 1831 
that are directly involved in or that facilitate the f inancial 1832 
services functions, banking, or fiduciary activities of the 1833 
international trust entity are not listed on the Financial 1834 
Action Task Force's list of High -Risk Jurisdictions subject to a 1835 
Call for Action or list of Jurisdictions under Increased 1836 
Monitoring Force Public Statement or on its list of 1837 
jurisdictions with deficiencies in anti -money laundering or 1838 
counterterrorism. 1839 
 1840 
The proposed qualified limited service affiliate may provide 1841 
additional information in the form of exhibits when attempting 1842 
to satisfy any of the qualification requirements. All 1843 
information that the proposed qualified limited service 1844 
affiliate desires to present to support the written notice must 1845 
be submitted with the notice. 1846 
 (4)  The qualified limited service affiliate shall suspend 1847 
the permissible activities provided in s. 663.531 relating to a 1848 
specific jurisdiction if the qualified limited service affiliate 1849 
becomes aware that the jurisdiction of an international trust 1850     
 
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entity served by the qualified limited service affiliate is 1851 
included on the Financial Action Task Force's list of High -Risk 1852 
Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action or list of 1853 
Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring. Suspensions under this 1854 
subsection must remain in effect until the jurisdiction is 1855 
removed from the Financial Action Task Force's list of High -Risk 1856 
Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action or list of 1857 
Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring. 1858 
 Section 49.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 1859 
736.0802, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 1860 
 736.0802  Duty of loyalty. — 1861 
 (5)(a)  An investment by a trustee authorized by lawful 1862 
authority to engage in trust business, as defined in s. 658.12 1863 
s. 658.12(20), in investment instruments, as defined in s. 1864 
660.25(6), that are owned or controlled by the trustee or its 1865 
affiliate, or from which the trustee or its affiliate receives 1866 
compensation for providing services in a capacity other than as 1867 
trustee, is not presumed to be affected by a conflict between 1868 
personal and fiduciary interests provided the investment 1869 
otherwise complies with chapters 518 and 660 and the trustee 1870 
complies with the requirements of this subsection. 1871 
 Section 50.  For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sums of 1872 
$466,959 in recurring funds and $350,832 in nonrecurring funds 1873 
are appropriated from th e Administrative Trust Fund to the 1874 
Office of Financial Regulation to implement s. 20.121(3)(a), 1875     
 
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Florida Statutes, as amended by this act. 1876 
 Section 51.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2022. 1877