HB4798 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 18020 SAS 43706 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB4798

Introduced 02/04/04, by Susana Mendoza

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

205 ILCS 657/20
205 ILCS 657/37

Amends the Transmitters of Money Act. Requires the Department of Financial Institutions to record all approved licenses, provide each licensee with a final order, and place it on the Department's webpage or make it available to consumers upon request. Requires each license to include the final order number, the full legal name of the licensee, the customer service number of the licensee, and the corporate officer or director bearing regulatory responsibility for the transmitter service. Requires all documentation submitted to the Department pursuant to this Section to be signed by the officer or director listed on the license and list the name of a person knowledgeable and responsible for the record submitted, and that person must certify that he or she has control of the record. In provisions pertaining to displaying a disclosure notice, provides that each authorized seller must provide consumers transacting business with a licensee under this Act with a copy of the disclosure notice. Requires that disclosure notice contain all rates and surcharges to be built into the bill payment service applicable to the consumer for use of the service. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning financial regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Transmitters of Money Act is amended by changing Sections 20 and 37 as follows:

(205 ILCS 657/20)

Sec. 20. Qualifications for a license.

(a) In order to obtain a license under this Act, an applicant must prove to the satisfaction of the Director all of the following:

(1) That the applicant has and maintains the net worth specified in Column A, computed according to generally accepted accounting principles, corresponding to the number of locations in this State at which the applicant is conducting business or proposes to conduct business by itself and by any authorized sellers specified in Column B:

(2) That the applicant is in good standing and in statutory compliance in the state or country of incorporation or when the applicant is an entity other than a corporation, is properly registered under the laws of this State or another state or country, and if required, the corporation or entity is authorized to do business in the State of Illinois.

(3) That the applicant has not been convicted within the 10 years preceding the application of a felony under the laws of this State, another state, the United States, or a foreign jurisdiction.

(4) That no officer, director, controlling person, or principal of the applicant has been convicted within the 10 years preceding the application of a felony under the laws of this State, another state, the United States, or a foreign jurisdiction.

(5) That the financial responsibility, financial condition, business experience, character, and general fitness of the applicant and its management are such as to justify the confidence of the public and that the applicant is fit, willing, and able to carry on the proposed business in a lawful and fair manner.

(b) The Director may, for good cause shown, waive the requirement of items (3) and (4) of subsection (a) of this Section.

(c) The Department must record each approved license and the terms of service of the licensee. The Department must give each license a final order number that can be reviewed by the public on the Department's website or made available directly to consumers upon request. Each license must include the final order number, the full legal name of the licensee, the customer service number of the licensee, and the corporate officer or director bearing regulatory responsibility for the transmitter service. All reporting and documentation submitted to the Department pursuant to the license requirements in this Section must be signed by the officer or director listed on the license. All reporting and documentation submitted to the Department pursuant to this Section must also list the name of a person knowledgeable and responsible for the record submitted, and that person must certify that he or she has control of the record in question.

(Source: P.A. 92-400, eff. 1-1-02.)

(205 ILCS 657/37)

Sec. 37. Display of disclosure notice.

(a) Each authorized seller shall conspicuously display a disclosure notice supplied by the licensee; each licensee that transmits money directly shall also conspicuously display a disclosure notice; a copy of the disclosure notice shall be provided to each consumer that transacts business with a licensee under this Act.

(b) The disclosure notice shall contain the following information:

(1) In the case of an authorized seller only, the name of the authorized seller's licensee issuing the disclosure notice.

(2) A toll-free telephone number for the Department of Financial Institutions which will provide customer support for suspected violations of this Act.

(3) A statement that the authorization may be revoked at any time by the licensee.

(4) All rates and surcharges to be built into the bill payment service applicable to the consumer for use of the service.

(c) A licensee shall notify the Department within 30 days when an authorized seller is no longer an authorized seller for the licensee. An authorized seller who has been terminated shall remove the disclosure notice from the premises within 10 business days after such termination. A terminated authorized seller who wilfully and knowingly refuses to remove the disclosure notice within 10 business days of termination commits a Class B misdemeanor.

(d) If a customer of a former authorized seller detrimentally relies on a disclosure notice that was not removed, the former authorized seller shall be civilly liable if the customer proves: (1) that the entity possessed the disclosure notice beyond 10 business days from the termination of authorization by the licensee, (2) that the entity held itself out as an authorized seller, without informing the customer that the seller was no longer authorized by the licensee, (3) that the customer justifiably relied upon the conspicuously displayed disclosure notice formerly provided by the licensee, and (4) that the entity engaged in the business of transmitting money after its termination as an authorized seller.

(e) As used in this Section, "civil liability" means liability for actual loss, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs.

(Source: P.A. 93-535, eff. 1-1-04.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.