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Public Act 91-0645
SB890 Enrolled LRB9105132JSpcA
AN ACT to create the Illinois Financial Institutions Year
2000 Safety and Soundness Act.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Illinois Financial Institutions Year 2000 Safety and
Soundness Act.
Section 5. Findings and declarations of policy. The
General Assembly hereby finds and declares that:
(1) the economic strength and general welfare of
Illinois depends on strong, safe and sound financial
institutions that command the highest levels of public
confidence among the citizens of this State;
(2) Illinois financial institutions are highly
monitored and closely supervised by federal and state
regulatory agencies which impose strict compliance
standards and conduct regular and frequent examinations
on these institutions;
(3) countless computer systems, software programs,
microchips, and integrated circuits have been created,
distributed, installed, and relied upon throughout this
State and the world which are not capable of recognizing
certain dates in 1999 and after December 31, 1999, and
which will read dates in the year 2000 and thereafter as
if those dates represent the year 1900 or thereafter, or
which will fail to process those dates (commonly referred
to as the "Year 2000 Problem");
(4) the federal and state regulatory agencies which
regulate Illinois financial institutions have required
these institutions to undergo exhaustive planning,
remediation, testing, and contingency preparedness to
properly address the Year 2000 Problem with respect to
both internal and external mission critical computer
systems, internal and external non-mission critical
computer systems, third party vendors, customers, and
other possible sources of business interruption, and are
closely monitoring, examining, and supervising these
efforts on an institution by institution basis;
(5) Illinois financial institutions have expended
hundreds of millions of dollars on reprogramming,
replacing, and testing their computer systems to properly
address the Year 2000 Problem and continue to be
accountable to their federal and state regulatory
agencies for meeting the strict safety and soundness
standards imposed on them in connection with the Year
2000 Problem;
(6) Illinois financial institutions are integral to
the payments system and credit and savings bases relied
on by all other businesses, governmental entities, and
citizens of this State irrespective of whether those
businesses, governmental entities, and citizens have
addressed and implemented solutions in connection with
the Year 2000 Problem; and
(7) it is in the interests of this State to
recognize the unique and rigorous standards required of
Illinois financial institutions in connection with the
Year 2000 Problem and their integral role in maintaining
the payments system and credit and savings bases in this
State and to preserve public confidence in these
institutions and ensure their safety and soundness,
thereby protecting and enhancing the economy and general
welfare of this State, by providing uniform and judicious
legal standards for Illinois financial institutions in
connection with the Year 2000 Problem.
Section 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
(a) The term "Illinois financial institution" means:
(1) a State bank, a national bank, or an
out-of-state bank, as those terms are defined in the
Illinois Banking Act, or any subsidiary of a State bank,
a national bank, or an out-of-state bank;
(2) a foreign banking corporation, as that term is
defined in the Foreign Banking Office Act, or any
subsidiary of a foreign banking corporation;
(3) a corporate fiduciary, as that term is defined
in the Corporate Fiduciary Act, or any subsidiary of a
corporate fiduciary;
(4) a savings bank organized under the Savings Bank
Act, an out-of-state savings bank chartered under the
laws of a state other than Illinois, a territory of the
United States, or the District of Columbia, or a federal
savings bank organized under federal law, or any
subsidiary of a savings bank, an out-of-state savings
bank, or a federal savings bank;
(5) an association or federal association, as those
terms are defined in the Illinois Savings and Loan Act of
1985, or any subsidiary of an association or federal
association;
(6) an out-of-state savings and loan association
chartered under the laws of a state other than Illinois,
a territory of the United States, or the District of
Columbia, or a federal savings and loan association
organized under federal law whose principal business
office is located outside of Illinois, or any subsidiary
of an out-of-state savings and loan association or
federal savings and loan association whose principal
business office is located outside of Illinois;
(7) a credit union, as defined in the Illinois
Credit Union Act, or any subsidiary of a credit union; or
(8) a network owned by one or more financial
institutions, as those terms are defined in the
Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
The terms in this subsection (a) also shall be deemed to
include a direct or indirect holding company of an Illinois
financial institution in connection with a Year 2000 claim
involving the Illinois financial institution directly or
indirectly owned by such holding company.
(b) The term "Year 2000 failure" means any failure by any
device or system (including, without limitation, any computer
system and any microchip or integrated circuit embedded in
another device or product), or any software, firmware, or
other set or collection of processing instructions, however
constructed, in processing, calculating, comparing,
sequencing, displaying, storing, transmitting, or receiving
date-related data during the years 1999 and 2000 or from,
into, or between the twentieth century and the twenty-first
century, or the failure to recognize or accurately process
any specific date, or the failure to accurately account
for the status of the year 2000 as a leap year.
(c) The term "Year 2000 action" means a civil action of
any kind brought under Illinois law, except for a civil
action brought by a federal or state agency that regulates
the Illinois financial institution, in which:
(1) a Year 2000 claim is asserted; or
(2) any claim or defense is related, directly or
indirectly, to a Year 2000 claim.
(d) The term "Year 2000 claim" means any claim or cause
of action of any kind, whether asserted by way of claim,
counterclaim, cross-claim, third-party claim, or otherwise,
in which a party or other person's loss or harm is alleged to
have resulted, directly or indirectly, from any act or
omission in connection with an actual or potential Year 2000
failure, except for claims involving physical injury to the
extent of the claim of physical injury.
(e) The term "physical injury" means any physical injury
to a natural person, including the death of the person, but
does not include mental suffering, emotional distress, or
other similar elements of injury that do not constitute
physical harm to a natural person.
Section 15. Action for damages. An Illinois financial
institution shall not be liable in a Year 2000 action brought
by or for damages incurred by persons not in privity of
contract with the Illinois financial institution in
connection with the transaction that gave rise to the Year
2000 claim.
Section 20. Notice of claim. No person shall bring a
Year 2000 action or make a Year 2000 claim against an
Illinois financial institution unless the person has given
written notice to the Illinois financial institution of the
person's Year 2000 claim and the Illinois financial
institution has been afforded at least 60 days after receipt
of the notice to resolve the claim.
Section 25. Employees, officers, and directors. No
employee, officer, or director of an Illinois financial
institution shall be liable to any person for damages in a
Year 2000 action, except for an act or omission that
constitutes fraud; provided that this Section shall not
preclude a Year 2000 action against an Illinois financial
institution that is otherwise permitted by law based on the
actions of an employee, officer, or director of the financial
institution.
Section 30. Unaffected rights. The provisions of this
Act shall not affect the rights of parties under Articles 3,
4, 4A, and 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code and other rules
governing the processing of check, credit, debit, ACH, and
wire transactions, provided that such rights shall be
strictly construed to further the purposes and policies of
the provisions therein and the application of such
construction is not likely to impair the safety and soundness
of the Illinois financial institution.
Section 90. Severability. The provisions of this Act
are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 92. The Banking Emergencies Act is amended by
adding Section 5 as follows:
(205 ILCS 610/5 new)
Sec. 5. Year 2000 Consumer Protections.
(a) For the purposes of this Section:
(1) the term "Illinois financial institution" means:
(A) a State bank, a national bank, or an
out-of-state bank, as those terms are defined in the
Illinois Banking Act, or any subsidiary of a State
bank, a national bank, or an out-of-state bank;
(B) a foreign banking corporation, as that
term is defined in the Foreign Banking Office Act,
or any subsidiary of a foreign banking corporation;
(C) a corporate fiduciary, as that term is
defined in the Corporate Fiduciary Act, or any
subsidiary of a corporate fiduciary;
(D) a savings bank organized under the Savings
Bank Act, an out-of-state savings bank chartered
under the laws of a state other than Illinois, a
territory of the United States, or the District of
Columbia, or a federal savings bank organized under
federal law, or any subsidiary of a savings bank, an
out-of-state savings bank, or a federal savings
bank;
(E) an association or federal association, as
those terms are defined in the Illinois Savings and
Loan Act of 1985, or any subsidiary of an
association or federal association;
(F) an out-of-state savings and loan
association chartered under the laws of a state
other than Illinois, a territory of the United
States or the District of Columbia, or a federal
savings and loan association organized under federal
law whose principal business office is located
outside of Illinois, or any subsidiary of an
out-of-state savings and loan association or federal
savings and loan association whose principal
business office is located outside of Illinois;
(G) a credit union, as defined in the Illinois
Credit Union Act, or any subsidiary of a credit
union; or
(H) a network owned by one or more financial
institutions, as those terms are defined in the
Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
(2) the term "consumer" means an individual person;
and
(3) the term "Year 2000 failure" means any failure
by any device or system (including, without limitation,
any computer system and any microchip or integrated
circuit embedded in another device or product), or any
software, firmware, or other set or collection of
processing instructions, however constructed, in
processing, calculating, comparing, sequencing,
displaying, storing, transmitting, or receiving
date-related data during the years 1999 and 2000 or from,
into, or between the twentieth century and the
twenty-first century, or the failure to recognize or
accurately process any specific date, or the failure to
accurately account for the status of the year 2000 as a
leap year.
(b) A financial institution shall stay an action for the
collection of a debt from a consumer for 30 days if the
consumer's default, failure to pay, breach, omission, or
other violation of the agreement that is the basis of the
collection action was caused by a Year 2000 failure on the
part of any person, provided the consumer notifies the
financial institution in writing of his or her inability to
meet the debt obligation within 30 days of discovering the
inability to meet the obligation due to the Year 2000
failure, and the notice sets forth:
(1) the identity of the person experiencing the
Year 2000 failure;
(2) the reason such person's Year 2000 failure
caused the consumer's inability to meet the obligation;
and
(3) the name and telephone number of a
representative of the person experiencing the Year 2000
failure who the financial institution may call for
purposes of verification.
This subsection shall not be applied more than once in
connection with the same debt of a consumer, nor shall it
otherwise affect the consumer's underlying debt obligation,
the accrual of any interest on the debt obligation, or the
calculation of any period of delinquency for the debt
obligation.
(c) A financial institution shall not charge a late fee
on a consumer debt obligation, or if already charged shall
waive such late fee, if the consumer's failure to timely pay
under the agreement that provides the basis for the late fee
was caused by a Year 2000 failure on the part of any person,
provided the consumer notifies the financial institution in
writing of his or her inability to make timely payment within
30 days of discovering the inability to make timely payment
due to the Year 2000 failure, and the notice sets forth:
(1) the identity of the person experiencing the
Year 2000 failure;
(2) the reason such person's Year 2000 failure
caused the consumer's inability to make timely payment;
and
(3) the name and telephone number of a
representative of the person experiencing the Year 2000
failure who the financial institution may call for
purposes of verification.
This subsection shall not be applied more than once in
connection with the same debt of a consumer, nor shall it
otherwise affect the consumer's underlying debt obligation,
the accrual of any interest on the debt obligation, or the
calculation of any period of delinquency for the debt
obligation.
(d) A consumer may dispute directly with a credit
reporting agency operating in this State any negative credit
information reported in connection with the consumer
resulting from a Year 2000 failure on the part of any person
other than the consumer. If requested by the consumer
pursuant to this subsection, the credit reporting agency
shall include a statement prepared by the consumer of no more
than 100 words in the consumer's file explaining the negative
credit information relating to such Year 2000 failure, and
the credit reporting agency shall include the individual's
statement in any report it provides to any person or entity
regarding the consumer. The credit reporting agency shall
not charge the consumer a fee for the inclusion of this
statement in the consumer's credit file.
Section 99. Effective Date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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