Under existing law, money transmission businesses, which include businesses that conduct electronic wire transfers, must be licensed by the Alabama Securities Commission. This bill would require money transmission businesses to report to the commission certain large or suspicious cash transactions. This bill would provide criminal penalties for knowingly attempting to evade the reporting requirements and authorize the commission to assess civil penalties against violators of the reporting requirements. This bill would require money transmission businesses to collect a fee on outgoing international electronic wire transfers equal to 1.5 percent of the total amount of the wire transfer and would require that the fees collected be transmitted to the Alabama Securities Commission. This bill would create the Wire Transfer Fee Fund within the Alabama Securities Commission to hold all wire transfer fees. This bill would require the commission to periodically transfer wire transfer fees from the Wire Transfer Fee Fund to the Office of Prosecution Services. This bill would require the Office of Prosecution Services to distribute the fee proceeds to all sheriffs in the state to be used to offset costs relating to enforcement of immigration laws. This bill would authorize an income tax credit equal to the amount of wire transfer fees paid by taxpayers. This bill would require the Department of Revenue to establish a notice to customers who initiate international electronic wire transfers of the ability to be granted a tax credit for wire transfer fees paid by a taxpayer. This bill would authorize the Alabama Securities Commission and the Alabama Department of Revenue to administer this act. This bill would establish a legislative study commission to ensure that wire transfer fee proceeds are meeting the needs of affected communities and to recommend legislative changes. This bill would also repeal the provisions relating the wire transfer fee and income tax credit on December 31, 2030.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 8-7A-13