Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 538
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 410350                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: FAV            .                                
                  03/10/2009           .                                
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       The Committee on Community Affairs (Deutch) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 631 - 709
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 10. Subsection (7) is added to section 185.06,
    6  Florida Statutes, and subsection (1) of that section is amended
    7  to read:
    8         185.06 General powers and duties of board of trustees.—For
    9  any municipality, chapter plan, local law municipality, or local
   10  law plan under this chapter:
   11         (1) The board of trustees, subject to the fiduciary
   12  standards in ss. 112.656, 112.661, and 518.11 and the Code of
   13  Ethics in ss. 112.311-112.3187, may:
   14         (a) Invest and reinvest the assets of the retirement trust
   15  fund in annuity and life insurance contracts of life insurance
   16  companies in amounts sufficient to provide, in whole or in part,
   17  the benefits to which all of the participants in the municipal
   18  police officers’ retirement trust fund shall be entitled under
   19  the provisions of this chapter, and pay the initial and
   20  subsequent premiums thereon.
   21         (b) Invest and reinvest the assets of the retirement trust
   22  fund in:
   23         1. Time or savings accounts of a national bank, a state
   24  bank insured by the Bank Insurance Fund, or a savings and loan
   25  association insured by the Savings Association Insurance Fund
   26  which is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance
   27  Corporation or a state or federal chartered credit union whose
   28  share accounts are insured by the National Credit Union Share
   29  Insurance Fund.
   30         2. Obligations of the United States or obligations
   31  guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States.
   32         3. Bonds issued by the State of Israel.
   33         4. Bonds, stocks, or other evidences of indebtedness issued
   34  or guaranteed by a corporation organized under the laws of the
   35  United States, any state or organized territory of the United
   36  States, or the District of Columbia, provided:
   37         a. The corporation is listed on any one or more of the
   38  recognized national stock exchanges or on the National Market
   39  System of the NASDAQ Stock Market and, in the case of bonds
   40  only, holds a rating in one of the three highest classifications
   41  by a major rating service; and
   42         b. The board of trustees shall not invest more than 5
   43  percent of its assets in the common stock or capital stock of
   44  any one issuing company, nor shall the aggregate investment in
   45  any one issuing company exceed 5 percent of the outstanding
   46  capital stock of the company or the aggregate of its investments
   47  under this subparagraph at cost exceed 50 percent of the fund’s
   48  assets.
   49  
   50  This paragraph shall apply to all boards of trustees and
   51  participants. However, in the event that a municipality has a
   52  duly enacted pension plan pursuant to, and in compliance with,
   53  s. 185.35 and the trustees thereof desire to vary the investment
   54  procedures herein, the trustees of such plan shall request a
   55  variance of the investment procedures as outlined herein only
   56  through a municipal ordinance or special act of the Legislature;
   57  where a special act, or a municipality by ordinance adopted
   58  prior to July 1, 1998, permits a greater than 50-percent equity
   59  investment, such municipality shall not be required to comply
   60  with the aggregate equity investment provisions of this
   61  paragraph. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
   62  contrary, nothing in this section may be construed to take away
   63  any preexisting legal authority to make equity investments that
   64  exceed the requirements of this paragraph. Notwithstanding any
   65  law to the contrary, the board of trustees may invest up to 25
   66  10 percent of plan assets in foreign securities on a market
   67  value basis. The investment cap on foreign securities may not be
   68  revised, amended, repealed, or increased except as provided by
   69  general law.
   70         (c) Issue drafts upon the municipal police officers’
   71  retirement trust fund pursuant to this act and rules and
   72  regulations prescribed by the board of trustees. All such drafts
   73  shall be consecutively numbered, be signed by the chair and
   74  secretary or by two individuals designated by the board who are
   75  subject to the same fiduciary standards as required for the
   76  board of trustees under this subsection, and state upon their
   77  faces the purposes for which the drafts are drawn. The city
   78  treasurer or other depository shall retain such drafts when
   79  paid, as permanent vouchers for disbursements made, and no money
   80  shall otherwise be drawn from the fund.
   81         (d) Finally decide all claims to relief under the board’s
   82  rules and regulations and pursuant to the provisions of this
   83  act.
   84         (e) Convert into cash any securities of the fund.
   85  (f) Keep a complete record of all receipts and disbursements and
   86  of the board’s acts and proceedings.
   87         (7)Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1)(b) and
   88  as provided in s. 15.473, the board of trustees must identify
   89  and publicly report any direct or indirect holdings it may have
   90  in any scrutinized company, as defined in that section, and
   91  proceed to sell, redeem, divest, or withdraw all publicly traded
   92  securities it may have in such company beginning January 1,
   93  2010. The divestiture of any such security must be completed by
   94  March 1, 2010. The board and its named officers or investment
   95  advisors may not be deemed to have breached their fiduciary duty
   96  in any action taken to dispose of any such security, and the
   97  board shall have satisfactorily discharged the fiduciary duties
   98  of loyalty, prudence, and sole and exclusive benefit to the
   99  participants of the pension fund and their beneficiaries if the
  100  actions it takes are consistent with the duties imposed by s.
  101  215.473, and the manner of the disposition, if any, is
  102  reasonable as to the means chosen. For the purposes of effecting
  103  compliance with that section, the pension fund shall designate
  104  terror-free plans that allocate their funds among securities not
  105  subject to divestiture. No person may bring any civil, criminal,
  106  or administrative action against the board of trustees or any
  107  employee, officer, director, or advisor of such pension fund
  108  based upon the divestiture of any security pursuant to this
  109  paragraph.
  110  
  111  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  112         And the title is amended as follows:
  113         Delete lines 63 - 65
  114  and insert:
  115  providing that the investment cap on foreign securities may only
  116  be amended, repealed, or increased by an act of the Legislature;
  117  authorizing certain individuals to sign drafts issued upon the
  118  municipal police officers’ retirement trust fund; requiring the
  119  board of trustees to identify and divest of any scrutinized
  120  companies by a date certain; amending s. 185.08, F.S.;
  121  authorizing certain