By:  Montford                                         S.B. No. 1211
       73R2472 CAE-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the regulation of currency exchange and transmission
    1-3  businesses.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 10(a), Article 350, Revised Statutes, is
    1-6  amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  A person who is licensed under this article shall post a
    1-8  bond with a qualified surety company doing business in this state
    1-9  that is acceptable to the commissioner <for each license the person
   1-10  holds> in an amount determined by the commissioner.  The
   1-11  commissioner shall determine the amount of the bond based on the
   1-12  dollar volume of the licensee's currency exchange or transmission
   1-13  business and the number of locations from which the person
   1-14  operates, but the bond must be at least $25,000.
   1-15        SECTION 2.  Section 13(a), Article 350, Revised Statutes, is
   1-16  amended to read as follows:
   1-17        (a)  The commissioner shall cooperate with federal and state
   1-18  agencies in discharging the commissioner's responsibilities
   1-19  relating to the regulation of currency exchange or transmission
   1-20  businesses.  The commissioner may:
   1-21              (1)  arrange for the exchange of information among
   1-22  government officials concerning the regulation of a currency
   1-23  exchange or transmission business; <and>
   1-24              (2)  cooperate in and coordinate training programs
    2-1  concerning the regulation of currency exchange or transmission
    2-2  businesses; and
    2-3              (3)  assist state and federal agencies in their
    2-4  enforcement and investigatory activities and supply those agencies
    2-5  with documentation and information.
    2-6        SECTION 3.  Section 16, Article 350, Revised Statutes, is
    2-7  amended to read as follows:
    2-8        Sec. 16.  INJUNCTION.  The prosecuting attorney of the county
    2-9  in which a violation is alleged to have occurred, the attorney
   2-10  general, or the district attorney of Travis County may seek an
   2-11  injunction prohibiting the further operation of a currency exchange
   2-12  or transmission business if an investigation discloses that a
   2-13  person is operating a currency exchange or transmission business
   2-14  without a license or in violation of this article or rules adopted
   2-15  under this article.
   2-16        SECTION 4.  Section 20, Article 350, Revised Statutes, is
   2-17  amended to read as follows:
   2-18        Sec. 20.  Confidential Information.  All information obtained
   2-19  by the Banking Department from a licensee relating to the financial
   2-20  condition of a licensee, whether obtained through examination or
   2-21  otherwise, except published statements, and all files and records
   2-22  of the Banking Department relating to a licensee are confidential
   2-23  and may not be disclosed by the commissioner or an officer or
   2-24  employee of the Banking Department.  The commissioner may release
   2-25  information if:
   2-26              (1)  the commissioner finds that immediate and
   2-27  irreparable harm is threatened to the licensee's customers or
    3-1  potential customers or the general public;
    3-2              (2)  the licensee consents before the release;
    3-3              (3)  the commissioner finds that release of the
    3-4  information is required in connection with an administrative <a>
    3-5  hearing under this article <before the Finance Commission>, in
    3-6  which event information may be released to the parties of that
    3-7  hearing <distributed to the Finance Commission>; or
    3-8              (4)  the commissioner finds that the release is
    3-9  reasonably necessary for the protection of the public and in the
   3-10  interest of justice, in which event information may be distributed
   3-11  to representatives of an agency, department, or instrumentality of
   3-12  this state, any other state, or the federal government<, provided
   3-13  the representatives state in writing under oath that they will
   3-14  maintain the confidentiality of the information>.
   3-15        SECTION 5.  Section 8(e), Article 350, Revised Statutes, is
   3-16  repealed.
   3-17        SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-18  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-19  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-20  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-21  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-22  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-23  passage, and it is so enacted.