On June 13, the governor of Florida signed HB 1549 and approved amendments to the state’s financial institutions codes and money services business chapter. For financial services, the act (i) changes the due dates for semiannual assessments to March 31 and September 30, (ii) authorizes the state’s Office of Financial Regulation to issue certificates of acquisition to acquiring financial institutions, (iii) allows reimbursement of necessary expenses for elected credit union officials, (iv) repeals the requirement for credit unions to maintain a regular reserve, and (v) revises the definition of “equity” to remove reference to “regular reserve,” among others.

With respect to businesses engaged in money transmission, the act expanded the definition of “control person” from persons owning 25 percent or more of the company’s equity to include persons who directly or indirectly have the power to vote or sell at least 25 percent of a class of voting securities. The bill is set to take effect on July 1.