What's happening
This bill expands labor law protections to prohibit employer retaliation against whistleblowers in New York's financial services industry.
Why it matters
Broadens the definition of “financial institution”. to include a wide range of entities—not just banks, but also investment firms, insurance companies, pawnshops, real estate businesses, travel agencies, and others—potentially impacting many types of employers and employees in New York’s financial sector.
Specifically protects disclosures related to financial misconduct. , such as violations of securities law, financial or accounting fraud, or misuse of funds in financial institutions, hedge funds, private equity firms, and their clients—making it easier for employees to report wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.
Enables regulatory flexibility. , allowing the superintendent of the Department of Financial Services to add new types of businesses to the list of covered institutions if their activities present risks relevant to criminal, tax, or regulatory matters, ensuring the law can adapt to emerging industry practices.
Addresses gaps in whistleblower protection. , responding to previous limitations where employees might have been unprotected when reporting financial crimes or unethical practices that don’t directly endanger public health or safety, thus encouraging more robust internal and external reporting of financial industry abuses.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Financial Industry Retaliation
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to labor
- Referred to labor
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
472
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI, SKOUFIS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ARROYO, COOK, PERRY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting employer retaliation against employees in the financial services industry
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 740 of the labor law is amended by adding a new paragraph (h) to read as follows:
(h) "Financial institution" means:
(i) an insured bank (as defined in section 3(h) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(h))), or a bank chartered by any state which conducts business in the state of New York;
(ii) a commercial bank or trust company;
(iii) a private banker;
(iv) an agency or branch of a foreign bank in the United States;
(v) any credit union;
(vi) a thrift institution;
(vii) a broker or dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.);
(viii) a broker or dealer in securities or commodities;
(ix) an investment banker or investment company;
(x) a currency exchange;
(xi) an issuer, redeemer, or cashier of traveler's checks, checks, money orders, or similar instruments;
(xii) an operator of a credit card system;
(xiii) an insurance company;
(xiv) a dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels;
(xv) a pawnbroker;
(xvi) a loan or finance company;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03287-01-7
A. 472 2
(xvii) a travel agency;
(xviii) a licensed sender of money or any other person who engages as a business in the transmission of funds, including any person who engages as a business in an informal money transfer system or any network of people who engage in a business in facilitating the transfer of money domestically or internationally outside of the conventional financial institutions system;
(xix) a telegraph company;
(xx) a business engaged in vehicle sales, including automobile, airplane, and boat sales;
(xxi) persons involved in real estate closings and settlements;
(xxii) the United States Postal Service;
(xxiii) an agency of the United States government or of a state or local government carrying out a duty or power of a business described in this paragraph;
(xxiv) an Indian casino or other gaming operation;
(xxv) any business or agency which engages in any activity which the superintendent of the department of financial services determines, by regulation, to be an activity which is similar to, related to, or a substitute for any activity in which any business described in this paragraph is authorized to engage; or
(xxvi) any other business designated by the superintendent of the department of financial services whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters.
§ 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 740 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 442 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
(a) discloses, or threatens to disclose to a supervisor or to a public body an activity, policy or practice of the employer that is in violation of law, rule or regulation (i) which violation creates and presents a substantial and specific danger to the public health or safety[, or]; (ii) which constitutes health care fraud; or (iii) which constitutes a violation of the federal or state securities laws, financial or accounting fraud, or misappropriation or misuse of the funds of a financial institution, a hedge fund or private equity firm, or of the clients or customers of such organizations;
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.