The Florida Senate

560.306  Standards.--

(1)  In order to qualify for registration under this part, an applicant must demonstrate to the office that he or she has such character and general fitness as will command the confidence of the public and warrant the belief that the registered business will be operated lawfully and fairly. The office may investigate each applicant to ascertain whether the qualifications and requirements prescribed by this part have been met. The office's investigation may include a criminal background investigation of all controlling shareholders, principals, officers, directors, members, and responsible persons of a check casher and a foreign currency exchanger and all persons designated by a foreign currency exchanger or check casher as an authorized vendor. Each controlling shareholder, principal, officer, director, member, and responsible person of a check casher or foreign currency exchanger, unless the applicant is a publicly traded corporation as defined by the commission by rule, a subsidiary thereof, or a subsidiary of a bank or bank holding company organized and regulated under the laws of any state or the United States, shall file a complete set of fingerprints. A fingerprint card submitted to the office must be taken by an authorized law enforcement agency. The office shall submit the fingerprints to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and the Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal processing. The cost for the fingerprint processing may be borne by the office, the employer, or the person subject to the background check. The Department of Law Enforcement shall submit an invoice to the office for the fingerprints received each month. The office shall screen the background results to determine if the applicant meets licensure requirements. The commission may waive by rule the requirement that applicants file a set of fingerprints or the requirement that such fingerprints be processed by the Department of Law Enforcement or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(2)  The office may deny registration if it finds that the applicant, or any money transmitter-affiliated party of the applicant, has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude in any jurisdiction or of a crime which, if committed in this state, would constitute a crime involving moral turpitude under the laws of this state. For the purposes of this part, a person shall be deemed to have been convicted of a crime if such person has either pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of a charge before a court or a federal magistrate, or by the verdict of a jury, irrespective of the pronouncement of sentence or the suspension thereof. The office may take into consideration the fact that such plea of guilty, or such decision, judgment, or verdict, has been set aside, reversed, or otherwise abrogated by lawful judicial process or that the person convicted of the crime received a pardon from the jurisdiction where the conviction was entered or received a certificate pursuant to any provision of law which removes the disability under this part because of such conviction.

(3)  The office may deny an application for registration if the applicant or money transmitter-affiliated party of the applicant is the subject of a pending criminal prosecution or governmental enforcement action, in any jurisdiction, until the conclusion of such criminal prosecution or enforcement action.

(4)  Each registration application and renewal application must specify the location at which the applicant proposes to establish its principal place of business and any other location, including authorized vendors operating in this state. The registrant shall notify the office of any changes to any such locations. A registrant may not transact business as a check casher or a foreign currency exchanger except pursuant to the name under which it is registered.

(5)  Each applicant shall designate and maintain an agent in this state for service of process.

History.--s. 3, ch. 94-238; s. 3, ch. 94-354; s. 12, ch. 2000-360; s. 720, ch. 2003-261; s. 11, ch. 2004-11; s. 63, ch. 2006-213.