A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 36-1-201, RELATING TO COMMERCIAL CODE GENERAL DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO ADD THE DEFINITION OF "CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY" AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "MONEY" TO EXCLUDE CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY; BY AMENDING SECTION 26-6-160, RELATING TO CONTROL OF TRANSFERABLE RECORDS PURSUANT TO THE UNIFORM ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS ACT, SO AS TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CHANGE; BY AMENDING SECTION 34-3-210, RELATING TO THE GENERAL POWERS OF A BANKING CORPORATION, SO AS TO PROHIBIT A BANKING CORPORATION FROM OFFERING ANY SERVICE OR APPROVING OF OR CONDUCTING ANY TRANSACTION THAT INVOLVES CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY; AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS TO PROHIBIT ENTITIES WITHIN ITS JURISDICTION FROM OFFERING OR PROVIDING ANY SERVICE OR CONDUCTING ANY TRANSACTION THAT WOULD UTILIZE CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.  Section 36-1-201(b) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

    (b) Subject to definitions contained in other chapters of this title that apply to particular chapters or parts thereof:

       (1) "Action", in the sense of a judicial proceeding, includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity, and any other proceeding in which rights are determined.

       (2) "Aggrieved party" means a party entitled to pursue a remedy.

       (3) "Agreement", as distinguished from "contract", means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their language or inferred from other circumstances, including course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as provided in Section 36-1-303.

       (4) "Bank" means a person engaged in the business of banking and includes a savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, and trust company.

       (5) "Bearer" means a person in control of a negotiable electronic document of title or a person in possession of a negotiable instrument, a negotiable tangible document of title, or certificated security that is payable to bearer or indorsed in blank.

       (6) "Bill of lading" means a document of title evidencing the receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the business of directly or indirectly transporting or forwarding goods. The term does not include a warehouse receipt.

       (7) "Branch" includes a separately incorporated foreign branch of a bank.

       (8) "Burden of establishing" a fact means the burden of persuading the trier of fact that the existence of the fact is more probable than its nonexistence.

       (9) "Buyer in ordinary course of business" means a person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods, and in ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker, in the business of selling goods of that kind. A person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the seller's own usual or customary practices. A person that sells oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or minehead is a person in the business of selling goods of that kind. A buyer in the ordinary course of business may buy for cash, by exchange of other property, or on secured or unsecured credit, and may acquire goods or documents of title under a preexisting contract for sale. Only a buyer that takes possession of the goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller under Chapter 2 may be a buyer in the ordinary course of business. "Buyer in ordinary course of business" does not include a person that acquires goods in a transfer in bulk or as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a money debt.

       (10) "Central bank digital currency" means a digital currency, a digital medium of exchange, or a digital monetary unit of account issued by the United States Federal Reserve System, a federal agency, a foreign government, a foreign central bank, or a foreign reserve system, that is made directly available to a consumer by such entities. The term includes a digital currency, a digital medium of exchange, or a digital monetary unit of account issued by the United States Federal Reserve System, a federal agency, a foreign government, a foreign central bank, or a foreign reserve system, that is processed or validated directly by such entities.

       (11) "Conspicuous", with reference to a term, means so written, displayed, or presented that a reasonable person against which it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term is "conspicuous" or not is a decision for the court. Conspicuous terms include the following:

           (A) a heading in capitals equal to or greater in size than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same or lesser size;  and

           (B) language in the body of a record or display in larger type than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that call attention to the language.

       (11)(12) "Consumer" means an individual who enters into a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

       (12)(13) "Contract", as distinguished from "agreement", means the total legal obligation that results from the parties' agreement as determined by the Uniform Commercial Code as supplemented by any other applicable laws.

       (13)(14) "Creditor" includes a general creditor, a secured creditor, a lien creditor, and any representative of creditors, including an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a trustee in bankruptcy, a receiver in equity, and an executor or administrator of an insolvent debtor's or assignor's estate.

       (14)(15) "Defendant" includes a person in the position of defendant in a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim.

       (15)(16) "Delivery", with respect to an electronic document of title means voluntary transfer of control, and with respect to an instrument, a tangible document of title, or chattel paper means voluntary transfer of possession.

       (16)(17) "Document of title" means a record (i) that in the regular course of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that the person in possession or control of the record is entitled to receive, control, hold, and dispose of the record and the goods the record covers and (ii) that purports to be issued by or addressed to a bailee and to cover goods in the bailee's possession that are either identified or are fungible portions of an identified mass. The term includes a bill of lading, transport document, dock warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt or order for the delivery of goods, and also any other document which in the regular course of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that the person in possession of it is entitled to receive, hold, and dispose of the document and the goods it covers. An electronic document of title means a document of title evidenced by a record consisting of information stored in an electronic medium. A tangible document of title means a document of title evidenced by a record consisting of information that is inscribed on a tangible medium.

       (17)(18) "Fault" means a default, breach, or wrongful act or omission.

       (18)(19) "Fungible goods" means:

           (A) goods of which any unit, by nature or usage of trade, is the equivalent of any other like unit; or

           (B) goods that by agreement are treated as equivalent.

       (19)(20) "Genuine" means free of forgery or counterfeiting.

       (20)(21) "Good faith", except as otherwise provided in Chapter 5, means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.

       (21)(22) "Holder" means:

           (A) the person in possession of a negotiable instrument that is payable either to bearer or an identified person that is the person in possession;

           (B) the person in possession of a negotiable tangible document of title if the goods are deliverable either to bearer or to the order of the person in possession; or

           (C) the person in control of a negotiable electronic document of title.

       (22)(23) "Insolvency proceeding" includes an assignment for the benefit of creditors or other proceedings intended to liquidate or rehabilitate the estate of the person involved.

       (23)(24) "Insolvent" means:

           (A) having generally ceased to pay debts in the ordinary course of business other than as a result of a bona fide dispute;

           (B) being unable to pay debts as they become due; or