HB 5A 2025A
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to combatting illegal immigration; 2
amending s. 560.208, F.S.; prohibiting licensed money 3
services businesses from initiating foreign remittance 4
transfers unless they have verified that the sender is 5
not an unauthorized alien; defining the t erm "foreign 6
remittance transfer"; requiring the Financial Services 7
Commission to adopt certain rules; requiring licensees 8
to submit certain forms to the commission within a 9
specified timeframe; requiring licensees to pay 10
specified penalties for any foreig n remittance 11
transferred in violation of specified provisions; 12
requiring quarterly penalty remittances; requiring 13
licensees to submit certain forms and penalties to the 14
Office of Financial Regulation of the commission 15
within a specified timeframe; requirin g the office to 16
deposit such penalties into a certain fund; amending 17
s. 560.211, F.S.; requiring that licensees make, keep, 18
and preserve for 5 years records of certain 19
documentation and penalties paid; creating s. 20
560.2115, F.S.; authorizing the office to request, and 21
requiring licensees to provide, records of certain 22
documentation; authorizing the filing of complaints; 23
providing criminal penalties for knowingly filing 24
false or frivolous complaints; imposing requirements 25
HB 5A 2025A
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
on the office upon receipt of a vali d complaint 26
substantiated by evidence of a violation; requiring 27
the office to conduct random quarterly audits of 28
licensees to ensure compliance with specified 29
provisions; specifying that failure to comply with 30
certain provisions constitutes grounds for the 31
suspension of all licenses issued by the office; 32
prohibiting the office from auditing a licensee more 33
than a specified number of times within a specified 34
period; providing an exception; authorizing the 35
office, on behalf of the commission, to adopt certain 36
emergency rules; providing for severability; providing 37
an effective date. 38
39
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40
41
Section 1. Subsection (7) is added to section 560.208, 42
Florida Statutes, to read: 43
560.208 Conduct of business .—In addition to the 44
requirements specified in s. 560.1401, a licensee under this 45
part: 46
(7)(a) May not initiate a foreign remittance transfer 47
unless the licensee has verified that the sender is not an 48
unauthorized alien as defined in s. 908.111. As used in this 49
section, the term "foreign remittance transfer" means a 50
HB 5A 2025A
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
remittance transfer as defined in the Electronic Fund Transfer 51
Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 1693o -1, as amended, the recipient of which is 52
located in any country other than the United States. The 53
commission shall adopt rules relating to acceptable forms of 54
documentation that a licensee shall use to verify that the 55
sender of a foreign remittance transfer is not an unauthorized 56
alien as defined in s. 908.111. The licensee shall provide 57
confirmation of verif ication on such forms as the commission may 58
prescribe for this purpose. All required forms must be submitted 59
to the commission not later than the 15th day of the month 60
following the close of each calendar quarter. 61
(b) Shall pay a penalty equal to 25 perc ent of the United 62
States dollar amount transferred, excluding any fees or charges 63
imposed by the licensee, for any foreign remittance transfer 64
initiated in violation of paragraph (a). The licensee shall 65
remit penalties owed under this paragraph quarterly t o the 66
office in addition to any such forms as the office may prescribe 67
for such purpose. All required penalties and forms must be 68
submitted to the office not later than the 15th day of the month 69
following the close of each calendar quarter. Notwithstanding 70
ss. 252.3711 and 560.144, the office shall deposit penalties 71
collected pursuant to this paragraph in the Emergency 72
Preparedness and Response Fund under s. 252.3711. 73
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, failure to 74
comply with paragraph (a) does not subject a licensee to any 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
penalty other than the penalty imposed by this paragraph. 76
Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 560.211, Florida 77
Statutes, is amended to read: 78
560.211 Required records. — 79
(1) In addition to the record retention requ irements under 80
s. 560.1105, each licensee under this part must make, keep, and 81
preserve the following books, accounts, records, and documents 82
for 5 years: 83
(a) A daily record of payment instruments sold and of 84
currency, monetary value, payment instruments , or virtual 85
currency transmitted. 86
(b) A general ledger containing all asset, liability, 87
capital, income, and expense accounts, which shall be posted at 88
least monthly. 89
(c) Daily settlement records received from authorized 90
vendors. 91
(d) Monthly financi al institution statements and 92
reconciliation records. 93
(e) Records of outstanding payment instruments and of 94
currency, monetary value, payment instruments, or virtual 95
currency transmitted. 96
(f) Records of each payment instrument paid and of 97
currency, monetary value, payment instruments, or virtual 98
currency transmitted. 99
(g) A list of the names and addresses of all of the 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
licensee's authorized vendors. 101
(h) Records that document the establishment, monitoring, 102
and termination of relationships with auth orized vendors and 103
foreign affiliates. 104
(i) Records of: 105
1. The documentation used to verify that the sender of a 106
foreign remittance transfer is not an unauthorized alien. 107
2. Penalties paid pursuant to s. 560.208(7)(b), including 108
the date and amount of each foreign remittance transfer and the 109
name, date of birth, and address of each sender. 110
(j) Any additional records, as prescribed by rule, 111
designed to detect and prevent money laundering. 112
(k)(j) Any additional records, as prescribed by rule, 113
related to virtual currency. 114
Section 3. Section 560.2115, Florida Statutes, is created 115
to read: 116
560.2115 Required records audit. — 117
(1) For the purpose of enforcement of this section, the 118
office may at any time request, and the licensee must provide, 119
records of documentation used to verify that the sender of a 120
foreign remittance transfer is not an unauthorized alien. 121
(2) A person who has a good faith belief that a licensee 122
is failing to comply with s. 560.208(7)(a) may file a complaint 123
with the office. 124
(3) A person who knowingly files a false or frivolous 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
complaint under subsection (2), including any complaint that 126
violates federal law, commits a misdemeanor of the second 127
degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 128
(4) Upon receipt of a valid complaint substantiated by 129
evidence of a violation of s. 560.208(7)(a), the office shall 130
notify the licensee of the complaint and direct the licensee to 131
pay a penalty pursuant to s. 560.208(7)(b). 132
(5) In addition to the requirements under subsectio n (1), 133
beginning July 1, 2026, the office shall conduct random 134
quarterly audits of licensees to ensure compliance with s. 135
560.208(7)(a). During an audit, a licensee shall produce records 136
of the documentation used to verify that each sender of a 137
foreign remittance transfer is not an unauthorized alien. A 138
licensee that fails to comply with s. 560.208(7)(a) is subject 139
to the penalty pursuant to s. 560.208(7)(b). 140
(6) Failure to comply with subsection (5) constitutes 141
grounds for the suspension of all licenses held by the licensee 142
which were issued by the office. 143
(7) The office may not audit a licensee more than once 144
every 2 years unless an audit within the last 6 months found the 145
licensee out of compliance with s. 560.208(7)(a). 146
Section 4. The Office of Financial Regulation, on behalf 147
of the Financial Services Commission, is authorized, and all 148
conditions are deemed met, to adopt emergency rules pursuant to 149
s. 120.54(4) to implement this act. Notwithstanding any other 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
law, emergency rules adopted pursuant to this section are 151
effective for 6 months after adoption and may be renewed during 152
the pendency of procedures to adopt permanent rules addressing 153
the subject of the emergency rules. 154
Section 5. If any provision of this act or its application 155
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity 156
does not affect other provisions or applications of this act 157
which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or 158
application, and to this end the provisions of this act are 159
severable. 160
Section 6. This act shall take effect March 31, 2025. 161