Senate Bill sb2958

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2958

    By Senator Geller





    31-679-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public funds; creating s.

  3         215.478, F.S.; prescribing investment

  4         principles for public officers and employees

  5         investing public moneys and for specified

  6         officers and employees of firms providing

  7         investment banking and equity management

  8         services for governmental agencies with respect

  9         to investment of public moneys; providing an

10         effective date.

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12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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14         Section 1.  Section 215.478, Florida Statutes, is

15  created to read:

16         215.478  Investment protection principles.--

17         (1)  Each person acting individually or as a member of

18  a collegial body making investments of public moneys as an

19  employee or officer of a state agency or an agency of county,

20  municipal, or other local government, and each employee or

21  officer of a nongovernmental entity that is retained by such

22  an agency to provide investment banking or equity management

23  services who makes investment decisions with respect to public

24  moneys held in a fiduciary capacity, must comply with the

25  following investment principles. The person must:

26         (a)  Eliminate conflicts of interest in decisionmaking.

27         (b)  Comply with all standards adopted by the agency,

28  the moneys of which are being invested with respect to

29  disclosure requirements that are more stringent than those

30  provided by general law.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2958
    31-679-04




 1         (c)  Consider the corporate governance practices of the

 2  companies in which public moneys are invested.

 3         (2)  Each nongovernmental entity that provides

 4  investment banking services for which it is retained by a

 5  state agency or an agency of county, municipal, or other local

 6  government must, as a condition of eligibility for receiving

 7  compensation for such services:

 8         (a)  Sever any link between compensation for analysts

 9  and investment banking.

10         (b)  Prohibit investment banking input into analyst

11  compensation.

12         (c)  Create a review committee to approve all research

13  recommendations.

14         (d)  Upon discontinuation of research coverage of a

15  company, disclose the coverage termination and the reason for

16  the termination.

17         (e)  Disclose in research reports whether the firm has

18  received, or is entitled to receive, any compensation from a

19  covered company within the preceding 12 months.

20         (f)  Establish a monitoring process to ensure

21  compliance with all investment protection principles to which

22  it is subject.

23         (3)  Within each equity management firm doing business

24  with a state agency or an agency of county, municipal, or

25  other local government, each active equity manager must:

26         (a)  Disclose periodically, as determined by rule of

27  the agency whose moneys are being managed but in no case less

28  frequently than annually, any client relationship, including

29  management of a plan under 26 U.S.C. s. 401(k), in which the

30  firm could invest public moneys in the securities of the

31  client.

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2958
    31-679-04




 1         (b)  Disclose annually the manner in which their

 2  portfolio managers and research analysts are compensated,

 3  including, but not limited to, any compensation resulting from

 4  the solicitation or acquisition of new clients or the

 5  retention of existing clients.

 6         (c)  Report no less frequently than quarterly the

 7  amount of commissions related to public moneys paid to

 8  broker-dealers and the percentage of commissions paid to

 9  broker-dealers that have publicly announced that they have

10  adopted the investment protection principles.

11         (d)  Adopt safeguards to ensure that client

12  relationships of any affiliate company do not influence

13  investment decisions of the firm; provide the state agency or

14  agency of county, municipal, or other local government a copy

15  of the safeguards plan; and certify annually to the state

16  agency or agency of county, municipal, or other local

17  government that the plan is being fully enforced.

18         (e)  Consider the quality and integrity of the firm's

19  accounting and financial data, including all public filings

20  and statements, as well as whether its outside auditors also

21  provide consulting or other services to the firm.

22         (f)  Consider the corporate governance policies and

23  practices of the firm.

24         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

25  law and shall apply July 1, 2005, with respect to state agency

26  officers and employees and outside investment banking or

27  management firms retained by state agencies and October 1,

28  2005, with respect to officers and employees of, and outside

29  investment banking or management firms retained by, agencies

30  of county, municipal, or other local government.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2958
    31-679-04




 1            *****************************************

 2                          SENATE SUMMARY

 3    Prescribes principles for governmental and
      nongovernmental officers and employees alike in
 4    investing, providing banking services for, and providing
      equity management services with respect to public moneys.
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