Enhances regulatory efficiency and efficacy in the banking law and general business law; repealer

Summary of provisions

Section 1 would amend Banking Law § 24 to, among other things, clarify that extension of the 90 day period for the examination and approval of an organization certificate is within the sole discretion of the Superintendent of Financial Services (Superintendent).

Section 2 would amend Banking Law § 25(1) and (3) with respect to the approval of authorization certificates.

Section 3 would repeal Banking Law § 28-b (2), which concerned an outdated committee created by its enacting legislation.

Section 4 would make minor clarifying changes to Banking Law § 28-b.

Section 5 would repeal superfluous language in Banking Law § 28-b (5).

Section 6 would amend Banking Law § 75-g (1) and add a new subdivision to increase the number of ATM compliance reports that must be filed by banking institutions from 1 to 2 per year. it also would authorizes the Superintendent to require that such reports be filed electronically and that a banking institution whose quarterly compliance report indicated any failure to comply with the ATM safety standards, file an additional written report by the eleventh business day after the original report indicating whether each failure has been corrected.

Section 7 would amend the penalty provisions of § 75-j to make clear that the obligation to correct violations within 10 business days applies equally to each of the quarterly compliance reports.

Section 8 would amend § 103 to reflect that Fannie Mae is no longer an instrumentality of the Federal Government and to provide flexibility for further changes to the status of federal or state agencies or instrumentalities.

Section 9 would amend Banking Law § 591 to provide the Superintendent with the authority to require electronic filing of license applications or renewals by mortgage bankers.

Section 10 would amend Banking Law § 591-a to provide the Superintendent with the authority to require electronic filing of registration applications or renewals by mortgage brokers.

Section 11 would amend General Business Law § 520-c to allow the Department of Financial Services to make available information on

credit cards more cost-effectively than is required by current law and to require credit card issuers to place their telephone information in a location where it will not be confused with the number of the Department of Financial Services.

Section 12 would provide for an immediate effective date, except for

Section 11 of the bill which will take effect 90 days thereafter.

Existing law

Banking Law § 24 provides the procedures and standards relating to the Superintendent's investigation of an organization certificate.

Banking Law § 25 provides the procedures to be followed by the Superintendent when issuing an organization certificate.

Banking Law § 28 provides the procedures for a banking organization to change its principal office designation.

Banking Law § 75-g sets forth reporting requirements for banking institutions that operate automated teller facilities. Banking Law 75-j authorizes the Department to impose civil penalties after the banking institution has been "found-to be in violation," and the institution fails to correct the violation within 10 business days. It also contains penalties for failure to file required reports or for filing reports with inaccurate information or omissions.

Banking Law § 103 limits the amount a bank may lend in various situations.

Article 12-D of the Banking Law provides for the regulation of mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers and mortgage loan servicers.

Banking Law § 591 governs the application process for licenses under Article 12-D for mortgage bankers.

Banking Law § 591-a governs the application process for registration under Article 12-D for mortgage brokers.

General Business Law § 520-c requires the Superintendent to conduct an annual survey of information with respect to credit cards, such as annual percentage rates, annual fees, per-transaction charges, late payment fees and grace period, and to make such information available to members of the public.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Statement in support

This bill updates the statutory framework for the regulation of banking and related entities subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Financial Services. Most of the amendments remove outdated references and make other non-substantive changes in the Banking Law to reflect the current environment within which financial services now operate.

Fiscal implications

There are no fiscal implications to the State from this bill.

Effective date

This bill would take effect immediately, except for Section 11 of the bill which will take effect 90 days thereafter.