The bill amends financial regulations, particularly focusing on the borrowing limits for financial institutions and the definitions related to licensed activities. It updates the maximum aggregate liability that a financial institution can permit any person or entity to borrow or guarantee to fifteen percent (15%) of the institution's unimpaired capital, including credit exposure from derivative transactions. The director is authorized to determine the method for calculating credit exposure. The bill also changes the regulatory authority from the "Office of Thrift Supervision" to the "Federal Reserve System" for certain institutions. Additionally, it redefines terms such as "bona fide employee," "check," "check casher," "currency transmission," and "deferred-deposit transaction," and updates the conditions under which loans are considered made within the state. The bill includes insertions of new definitions and deletions of outdated terms.

The bill further revises the minimum capital requirements for currency transmission licensees, increasing the tangible net worth requirement and scaling it with the size of the licensee's assets. It also amends the definition of a "mortgage loan originator" and introduces new responsibilities for student loan servicers, such as providing borrowers with annual loan terms and establishing policies for repayment arrangement requests. The bill mandates servicers to respond to written inquiries within a specified time frame and prohibits adverse credit reporting for payments under inquiry. It also outlines how loan servicers should handle overpayments and partial payments, and sets requirements for the transfer of loan servicing. Additionally, the bill prohibits loan servicers from withholding student transcripts due to delinquency and amends the Rhode Island Home Loan Protection Act to exempt certain institutions. It repeals and replaces a section related to currency transmissions, establishing requirements for maintaining permissible investments and creating a statutory trust for customer benefit in case of insolvency. The bill specifies what constitutes permissible investments and grants the director authority to identify and allow other types of investments. It also sets conditions for maintaining permissible investments and authorizes the director to participate in multistate processes for letters of credit. The act takes effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
2803: 19-3-3, 19-33-8, 34-25.2-11, 19-14.3-2