STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8408 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. KRUEGER -- (at request of the Department of Financial Services) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the financial services law, in relation to prohibited unlicensed activities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that it is 2 essential to the protection of users of financial products and services 3 from imprudent conduct and harmful business practices in the financial 4 services marketplace that all persons offering financial products and 5 services in New York State be sufficiently deterred from disregarding 6 the laws and regulations governing the offering of financial products or 7 services, regardless of whether they are properly licensed or authorized 8 otherwise to do business. Furthermore, to ensure that the business of, 9 and the persons providing, financial products and services are appropri- 10 ately supervised, the law should not advantage persons who disregard 11 such requirements. Currently, as to engagement in many activities for 12 which a license or other authorization from the superintendent of finan- 13 cial services is required by the banking law or financial services law 14 or the regulations promulgated thereunder, an unlicensed or otherwise 15 unauthorized person not exempt from licensing or other authorization is 16 not subject to civil monetary penalty for acts that would constitute 17 violations subject to penalty if the person were licensed or otherwise 18 authorized. This act provides that persons engaged in activity for which 19 a license or other authorization from the superintendent of financial 20 services is required under the banking law or financial services law 21 will be subject to a civil penalty for conducting such activity in a 22 manner inconsistent with the law, regardless of whether such person is 23 licensed or otherwise authorized to do such activity. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10329-02-5

S. 8408 2 1 § 2. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 305 of the financial services 2 law are amended to read as follows: 3 (a) Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, the banking law, the 4 insurance law or any other law, any hearing pursuant to any such law may 5 be held before the superintendent, any deputy superintendent, or any 6 designated salaried employee of the department authorized by the super- 7 intendent for such purpose. Any adjudicatory proceeding, including any 8 hearings to assess civil penalties under section four hundred eight or 9 four hundred eight-a of this chapter, held pursuant to the provisions of 10 this chapter, the insurance law or the banking law shall be noticed, 11 conducted and administered in compliance with the state administrative 12 procedure act. 13 (b) The person conducting such hearing shall have power to administer 14 oaths, examine and cross-examine witnesses and receive documentary 15 evidence, and shall report [~~his or her~~] such person's findings, orally 16 or in writing, to the superintendent with or without recommendation. 17 Such report, if adopted by the superintendent may be the basis of any 18 determination made by the superintendent. One hundred twenty days after 19 the effective date of a determination of liability for a civil penalty 20 pursuant to section four hundred eight or four hundred eight-a of this 21 chapter or four hundred three, one thousand one hundred two, two thou- 22 sand one hundred two, two thousand one hundred seventeen, two thousand 23 one hundred thirty-three or seven thousand eight hundred sixteen of the 24 insurance law, such determination of liability for a civil penalty may 25 be entered as a judgment and enforced, without court proceedings, in the 26 same manner as the enforcement of a money judgment in civil actions in 27 any court of competent jurisdiction or any other place provided for the 28 entry of civil judgment within this state. 29 § 3. Subsection (a) of section 404 of the financial services law is 30 amended to read as follows: 31 (a) The superintendent has authority under this article, the banking 32 law, the insurance law and other applicable laws to investigate activ- 33 ities that may constitute violations subject to section four hundred 34 eight or four hundred eight-a of this article or violations of the 35 insurance law or banking law and to develop evidence thereon. 36 § 4. The financial services law is amended by adding a new section 37 408-a to read as follows: 38 § 408-a. Unlicensed activities prohibited. (a) For the purposes of 39 this section, a "prohibited unlicensed act" shall mean: 40 (1) engaging in an activity in this state for which a license, certif- 41 ication, registration, authorization, charter, accreditation or incorpo- 42 ration is required by this chapter or the banking law, or the regu- 43 lations promulgated thereunder, without such license, certification, 44 registration, authorization, charter, accreditation or incorporation or 45 an exemption from such requirement; or 46 (2) any act or omission by a person who is required by this chapter or 47 the banking law, or the regulations promulgated thereunder, to be 48 licensed, certified, registered, authorized, chartered, accredited or 49 incorporated and is not so licensed, certified, registered, authorized, 50 chartered, accredited or incorporated, or exempted from such require- 51 ment, if such act or omission would constitute a violation of this chap- 52 ter or the banking law, or the regulations promulgated thereunder, 53 subject to monetary penalty if such person were so licensed, certified, 54 registered, authorized, chartered, accredited or incorporated.

S. 8408 3 1 (b) In addition to any civil or criminal liability provided by law, 2 the superintendent may, after notice and a hearing, levy a civil penalty 3 for any prohibited unlicensed act as follows: 4 (1) The penalty for a prohibited unlicensed act that relates to the 5 requirements of the banking law or the regulations promulgated there- 6 under shall be the same as the penalty provided in section forty-four of 7 the banking law for any violation of the banking law. 8 (2) The penalty for a prohibited unlicensed act that relates to the 9 requirements of this chapter or the regulations promulgated thereunder 10 shall be the same as the penalty provided for in section four hundred 11 eight of this article for violations of this chapter or the regulations 12 promulgated thereunder. However, the superintendent shall not impose or 13 collect any penalty for a prohibited unlicensed act pursuant to this 14 paragraph if the superintendent imposes or collects any penalty pursuant 15 to paragraph one of this subsection or paragraphs two or three of 16 subsection (a) of section four hundred eight of this article for the 17 same act or omission. 18 (3) If a prohibited unlicensed act results in consumer harm, the 19 penalty shall be not more than double the penalty amount applicable to 20 such violation set forth in paragraphs one and two of this subsection. 21 (c) Civil penalties received by the superintendent pursuant to this 22 section shall be applied in the same manner as civil penalties received 23 by the superintendent pursuant to section four hundred eight of this 24 chapter. 25 (d) In addition to any other penalty or sanction imposed upon a person 26 by law for a prohibited unlicensed act, after notice and a hearing, the 27 superintendent may issue an order directing such person to pay restitu- 28 tion for such unlicensed act. 29 § 5. Subsection (a) of section 409 of the financial services law is 30 amended to read as follows: 31 (a) Whenever the superintendent is satisfied that a violation subject 32 to section four hundred eight or four hundred eight-a of this article or 33 fraud or other criminal activity under the insurance law or banking law 34 has been committed or attempted, the superintendent shall report any 35 such violation of law, as the superintendent deems appropriate, to the 36 appropriate licensing agency, the district attorney of the county in 37 which such acts were committed, to the attorney general, and where 38 appropriate, to the person who submitted the report of fraudulent activ- 39 ity, as provided by the provisions of this article. Within one hundred 40 twenty days of receipt of the superintendent's report, the attorney 41 general or the district attorney concerned shall inform the superinten- 42 dent as to the status of the reported violations. 43 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.

Relates to prohibited unlicensed activities

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