HB 115

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to ownership or transfer of securities;
3	amending s. 628.511, F.S.; revising provisions authorizing
4	domestic insurers' ownership or transfer of certain
5	securities without physical delivery of certificates;
6	providing an effective date.
7
8	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
9
10	Section 1.  Section 628.511, Florida Statutes, is amended
11	to read:
12	628.511  Ownership or transfer of securities without
13	physical delivery of certificates Book entry accounting
14	system.--
15	(1)  The purpose of this section is to authorize domestic
16	insurers to use utilize modern systems for holding and
17	transferring securities without physical delivery of securities
18	certificates, subject to appropriate rules of the commission.
19	(2)  The following terms are defined for use in this
20	section:
21	(a)  "Securities" means instruments as defined in s.
22	678.1021.
23	(b)  "Clearing corporation" means a clearing corporation as
24	defined in s. 678.1021 and includes the Treasury/Reserve
25	Automated Debt Entry System or Treasury Direct book-entry
26	securities systems as established pursuant to 31 U.S.C. chapter
27	31, 12 U.S.C. s. 391, and 5 U.S.C. s. 301.
28	(c)  "Custodian Direct participant" means a national bank,
29	state bank, or trust company, broker, or dealer that which
30	maintains an account in its name in a clearing corporation and
31	through which an insurance company participates in a clearing
32	corporation.
33	(d)  "Federal Reserve book-entry system" means the
34	computerized systems sponsored by the United States Department
35	of the Treasury and agencies and instrumentalities of the United
36	States for holding and transferring securities of the United
37	States Government and such agencies and instrumentalities,
38	respectively, in Federal Reserve banks through banks which are
39	members of the Federal Reserve System or which otherwise have
40	access to such computerized systems.
41	(e)  "Member bank" means a national bank, state bank or
42	trust company which is a member of the Federal Reserve System
43	and through which an insurer participates in the Federal Reserve
44	book-entry system.
45	(3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a domestic
46	insurer may deposit or arrange for the deposit of securities
47	held in or purchased for its general account and its separate
48	accounts in a clearing corporation or in the Federal Reserve
49	book-entry system. When securities are deposited with a clearing
50	corporation, certificates representing securities of the same
51	class of the same issuer may be merged and held in bulk in the
52	name of the nominee of such clearing corporation with any other
53	securities deposited with such clearing corporation by any
54	person, regardless of the ownership of such securities, and
55	certificates representing securities of small denominations may
56	be merged into one or more certificates of larger denominations.
57	The records of any custodian bank through which an insurer holds
58	securities in the Federal Reserve book-entry system, and the
59	records of any custodian banks through which an insurer holds
60	securities in a clearing corporation, shall at all times show
61	that such securities are held for such insurer and for which
62	accounts thereof. Ownership of, and other interests in, such
63	securities may be transferred by bookkeeping entry on the books
64	of such clearing corporation or in the Federal Reserve book-
65	entry system without, in either case, physical delivery of
66	certificates representing such securities.
67	(4)  The commission may adopt rules governing the deposit
68	by insurers of securities with clearing corporations and in the
69	Federal Reserve book-entry system.
70	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.