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2023 Florida Statutes (including 2023C)

Title XXXIII REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS
Chapter 560 MONEY SERVICES BUSINESSES Entire Chapter
SECTION 103
Definitions.
F.S. 560.103
560.103 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) “Affiliated party” means a control person, employee, or foreign affiliate of a money services business, or a person who has a controlling interest in a money services business as provided in s. 560.127.
(2) “Appropriate regulator” means a state, federal, or foreign agency that has been granted authority to enforce state, federal, or foreign laws related to a money services business or deferred presentment provider.
(3) “Authorized vendor” means a person designated by a money services business licensed under part II of this chapter to act on behalf of the licensee at locations in this state pursuant to a written contract with the licensee.
(4) “Branch office” means the physical location, other than the principal place of business, of a money services business operated by a licensee under this chapter.
(5) “Cashing” means providing currency for payment instruments except for travelers checks.
(6) “Check casher” means a person who sells currency in exchange for payment instruments received, except travelers checks.
(7) “Commission” means the Financial Services Commission.
(8) “Compliance officer” means the individual in charge of overseeing, managing, and ensuring that a money services business is in compliance with all state and federal laws and rules relating to money services businesses, as applicable, including all money laundering laws and rules.
(9) “Conductor” means a natural person who presents himself or herself to a licensee for purposes of cashing a payment instrument.
(10) “Control person” means, with respect to a money services business, any of the following:
(a) A person who holds the title of president, treasurer, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief operations officer, chief legal officer, or compliance officer for a money services business.
(b) A person who holds any of the officer, general partner, manager, or managing member positions named in the money services business’s governing documents. As used in this paragraph, the term “governing documents” includes bylaws, articles of incorporation or organization, partnership agreements, shareholder agreements, and management or operating agreements.
(c) A director of the money services business’s board of directors.
(d) A shareholder 1in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation for profit, whether incorporated under the laws of this state or organized under the laws of any other jurisdiction and existing in that legal form, who owns 25 percent or more of a class of the company’s equity securities.
(e) A general partner or a limited partner, as those terms are defined in s. 620.1102, who has a 25 percent or more transferable interest, as defined in s. 620.1102, of a limited partnership, limited liability limited partnership, foreign limited partnership, or foreign limited liability limited partnership, as those terms are defined in s. 620.1102.
(f) A member, who is a person that owns a membership interest in a limited liability company or a foreign limited liability company, as those terms are defined in s. 605.0102(36) and (26), respectively, that holds a 25 percent or more membership interest in such company. As used in this subsection, the term “membership interest” means a member’s right to receive distributions or other rights, such as voting rights or management rights, under the articles of organization.
(g) A natural person who indirectly owns 25 percent or more of the shares or stock interest, transferable interest as defined in s. 620.1102, or membership interest as defined in paragraph (f), of any legal entities referred to in paragraphs (d)-(f).
(11) “Corporate payment instrument” means a payment instrument on which the payee named on the instrument’s face is other than a natural person.
(12) “Currency” means the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country which is designated as legal tender and which circulates and is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance. Currency includes United States silver certificates, United States notes, and Federal Reserve notes. Currency also includes official foreign bank notes that are customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in a foreign country.
(13) “Deferred presentment provider” means a person who is licensed under part II or part III of this chapter and has filed a declaration of intent with the office to engage in deferred presentment transactions as provided under part IV of this chapter.
(14) “Department” means the Department of Financial Services.
(15) “Electronic instrument” means a card, tangible object, or other form of electronic payment used for the transmission, payment, or exchange of currency or monetary value, including a stored value card or device that contains a microprocessor chip, magnetic stripe, or other means for storing information; that is prefunded; and for which the value is decremented upon each use.
(16) “Financial audit report” means a report prepared in connection with a financial audit that is conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards prescribed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants by a certified public accountant licensed to do business in the United States, and which must include:
(a) Financial statements, including notes related to the financial statements and required supplementary information, prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The notes must, at a minimum, include detailed disclosures regarding receivables that are greater than 90 days, if the total amount of such receivables represents more than 2 percent of the licensee’s total assets.
(b) An expression of opinion regarding whether the financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or an assertion to the effect that such an opinion cannot be expressed and the reasons.
(17) “Foreign affiliate” means a person located outside this state who has been designated by a licensee to make payments on behalf of the licensee to persons who reside outside this state. The term also includes a person located outside of this state for whom the licensee has been designated to make payments in this state.
(18) “Foreign currency exchanger” means a person who exchanges, for compensation, currency of the United States or a foreign government to currency of another government.
(19) “Fraudulent identification paraphernalia” means all equipment, products, or materials of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in the misrepresentation of a customer’s identity. The term includes, but is not limited to:
(a) A signature stamp, thumbprint stamp, or other tool or device used to forge a customer’s personal identification information.
(b) An original of any type of personal identification listed in s. 560.310(2)(b) which is blank, stolen, or unlawfully issued.
(c) A blank, forged, fictitious, or counterfeit instrument in the similitude of any type of personal identification listed in s. 560.310(2)(b) which would in context lead a reasonably prudent person to believe that such instrument is an authentic original of such personal identification.
(d) Counterfeit, fictitious, or fabricated information in the similitude of a customer’s personal identification information that, although not authentic, would in context lead a reasonably prudent person to credit its authenticity.
(20) “Licensee” means a person licensed under this chapter.
(21) “Location” means a branch office, mobile location, or location of an authorized vendor whose business activity is regulated under this chapter.
(22) “Monetary value” means a medium of exchange, other than virtual currency, regardless of whether it is redeemable in currency.
(23) “Money services business” means any person located in or doing business in this state, from this state, or into this state from locations outside this state or country who acts as a payment instrument seller, foreign currency exchanger, check casher, or money transmitter.
(24) “Money transmitter” means a corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or foreign entity qualified to do business in this state which receives currency, monetary value, a payment instrument, or virtual currency for the purpose of acting as an intermediary to transmit currency, monetary value, a payment instrument, or virtual currency from one person to another location or person by any means, including transmission by wire, facsimile, electronic transfer, courier, the Internet, or through bill payment services or other businesses that facilitate such transfer within this country, or to or from this country. The term includes only an intermediary that has the ability to unilaterally execute or indefinitely prevent a transaction.
(25) “Net worth” means assets minus liabilities, determined in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles.
(26) “Office” means the Office of Financial Regulation of the commission.
(27) “Outstanding money transmission” means a money transmission to a designated recipient or a refund to a sender that has not been completed.
(28) “Outstanding payment instrument” means an unpaid payment instrument whose sale has been reported to a licensee.
(29) “Payment instrument” means a check, draft, warrant, money order, travelers check, electronic instrument, or other instrument used for the transmission, exchange, or payment of currency or monetary value, regardless of whether it is negotiable. The term does not include an instrument that is redeemable by the issuer in merchandise or service, a credit card voucher, or a letter of credit.
(30) “Payment instrument seller” means a corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or foreign entity qualified to do business in this state which sells a payment instrument.
(31) “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, trust, corporation, limited liability company, or other group, however organized, but does not include a public agency or instrumentality thereof.
(32) “Personal identification information” means a customer’s name that, alone or together with any of the following information, may be used to identify that specific customer:
(a) Customer’s signature.
(b) Photograph, digital image, or other likeness of the customer.
(c) Unique biometric data, such as the customer’s thumbprint or fingerprint, voice print, retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation of the customer.
(33) “Publicly traded” means a stock is currently traded on a national securities exchange registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or traded on an exchange in a country other than the United States regulated by a regulator equivalent to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the disclosure and reporting requirements of such regulator are substantially similar to those of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(34) “Sells” means to sell, issue, provide, or deliver.
(35) “Stored value” means currency or monetary value represented in digital electronic format, regardless of whether it is specially encrypted, and stored or capable of storage on electronic media in such a way as to be retrievable and transferred electronically.
(36) “Virtual currency” means a medium of exchange in electronic or digital format that is not currency. The term does not include a medium of exchange in electronic or digital format that is:
(a) Issued by or on behalf of a publisher and used solely within an online game, game platform, or family of games sold by the same publisher or offered on the same game platform; or
(b) Used exclusively as part of a consumer affinity or rewards program and can be applied solely as payment for purchases with the issuer or other designated merchants but cannot be converted into or redeemed for currency or another medium of exchange.
History.—s. 1, ch. 94-238; s. 1, ch. 94-354; s. 1, ch. 97-59; s. 2, ch. 2000-360; s. 1, ch. 2001-119; s. 687, ch. 2003-261; s. 1, ch. 2004-85; s. 1, ch. 2008-177; s. 1, ch. 2012-85; s. 2, ch. 2022-113; s. 1, ch. 2022-135; s. 1, ch. 2023-125.
1Note.—The word “in” was inserted by the editors to improve clarity.