NY Banking Law, Article 13-B, Transmitters of Money

ARTICLE XIII-B TRANSMITTERS OF MONEY
Section 640. Definitions. 641. License. 642. Action by superintendent. 643. Bond or securities. 644. Transfer of securities or substitution of bond. 645. Assignment of claims to superintendent. 646. Investigations, hearings and reports. 647. Judicial review. 648. Agents and subagents. 649. Rules and regulations. 650. Violations and penalties. 651. Investments. 651-a. Remittances. 651-b. Maintenance of books and records by agents. 652. Severability. 652-a. Changes in control. 652-b. Tying arrangements. S 640. Definitions. In this article, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, joint stock association, trust or other group, however organized. 2. "Licensee" means any person duly licensed by the superintendent pursuant to this article. 3. "Check" means any check, draft, travelers check, money order or other instrument for the transmission or payment of money. 4. "purchaser", "holder", "New York instrument" and "New York traveler`s check" shall have the respective meanings ascribed to such terms by section six hundred fifty-three of this chapter. 5. "Payment instrument" means any check, draft, money order, or other instrument or order for the transmission or payment of money, whether or not such instrument or order is negotiable, and sold to one or more persons. "Payment instrument" does not include a traveler`s check, any instrument which is redeemable by the issuer in merchandise or services, a letter of credit or a permissible investment as defined in this section. 6. "Outstanding payment instruments" means unpaid payment instruments sold anywhere in the United States and whose sale has been reported to a licensee. 7. "Traveler`s check" means an instrument identified as a traveler`s check on its face or commonly recognized as such, issued in a whole multiple of ten dollars if under one hundred dollars, or in a whole multiple of one hundred dollars, with a provision for a specimen signature of the purchaser to be completed at the time of purchase and a counter-signature of the purchaser to be completed at the time of negotiation. 8. "Outstanding traveler`s checks" means unpaid traveler`s checks sold anywhere in the United States and whose sale has been reported to a licensee. 9. "Permissible investments" means: (i) cash; (ii) certificates of deposit or other debt instruments of a commercial bank; (iii) bills of exchange or time drafts drawn on and accepted by a commercial bank, otherwise known as bankers acceptances, which are eligible for purchase by member banks of the federal reserve system; (iv) commercial paper of prime quality as defined by a nationally recognized organization which rates such securities; (v) interest-bearing bills, notes, bonds, debentures or other obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States or any state or other local governmental entity or any agent or instrumentality thereof, bearing a rating of one of the three highest grades by a nationally recognized investment service organization that has been engaged regularly in rating state and municipal issues for a period of not less than five years; (vi) interest-bearing bills, notes, bonds, debentures or preferred stock traded on any national securities exchange or on a national over-the-counter market or bearing a rating of one of the three highest grades by a nationally recognized investment service organization that has been engaged regularly in rating corporate debt or equity issues for a period of not less than five years; and (vii) such other investments if and as approved by the superintendent. Except for cash and certificates of deposit of a commercial bank, any particular investment within the classes of investments authorized by this section is subject to disqualification for one or more licensees for the purpose of this article, if unsatisfactory for any reason in the opinion of the superintendent. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the superintendent shall have the power to limit, with respect to any particular licensee or all licensees, the extent to which any class of investments authorized by this section, except for cash and certificates of deposit of a commercial bank, may be considered a permissible investment. S 641. License. 1. On and after December first, nineteen hundred sixty-four, no person shall engage in the business of selling or issuing checks, or engage in the business of receiving money for transmission or transmitting the same, without a license therefor obtained from the superintendent as provided in this article, nor shall any person engage in such business as an agent, except as an agent of a licensee or as agent of a payee; provided, however, that nothing in this article shall apply to a bank, trust company, private banker, foreign banking corporation licensed pursuant to article two of this chapter, savings bank, savings and loan association, an investment company, a national banking association, federal reserve bank, corporation organized under the provisions of section twenty-five-a of an act of congress entitled the "Federal Reserve Act", federal savings bank or federal savings and loan association, state or federal credit union, or a corporation incorporated prior to the year eighteen hundred fifty to promote the welfare of immigrants. 2. Application for a license required under this article shall be in writing, under oath, and in the form prescribed by the superintendent, and shall contain the following: (a) The exact name of the applicant and, if incorporated, the date of incorporation and the state where incorporated. (b) The complete address of the principal office from which the business is to be conducted, and where the books and records of the applicant are maintained and to be maintained, showing the street and number, if any, and the municipality and county; (c) If the applicant has one or more branches, subsidiaries or affiliates engaging in this state in the business of selling or issuing checks, or of receiving money for transmission or transmitting the same, the complete name and address of each; (d) The name and residence address of the applicant, if an individual or, if a partnership, of its partners or, if a corporation or association, of the directors, trustees and principal officers thereof, and of any stockholder owning twenty per centum or more of any class of its stock; and (e) Such other pertinent information as the superintendent may require. 3. Application for a license shall be accompanied by an investigation fee of one thousand dollars, which shall not be refunded, and an annual license fee of five hundred dollars. S 642. Action by superintendent. 1. Upon the filing of an application, and the payment of the fees for investigation and license, the superintendent shall investigate the financial condition and responsibility, financial and business experience, character and general fitness of the applicant and, if the superintendent finds these qualities are such as to warrant the belief that the applicant`s business will be conducted honestly, fairly, equitably, carefully and efficiently within the purposes and intent of this article, and in a manner commanding the confidence and trust of the community, the superintendent shall advise the applicant in writing of his conditional approval of the application, and thereafter upon compliance by the applicant with the provisions of section six hundred forty-three of this article, shall issue to the applicant a license to engage in the business of selling and issuing checks, and of receiving money for transmission and transmitting the same, subject to the provisions of this article; or the superintendent may deny the application and return the license fee to the applicant. 2. The superintendent shall approve conditionally or deny every application for a license hereunder within ninety days from the filing thereof. Such period of ninety days may be extended, by the written consent of the applicant, for such additional reasonable period of time as may be required to enable compliance with such requirements and conditions as may be provided by this article and the rules or regulations of the superintendent issued thereunder. 3. A license issued pursuant to this article shall remain in full force and effect until it is surrendered by the licensee or revoked or suspended as provided in this article. Every licensee shall, on or before the fifteenth day of June of each year, pay to the superintendent an annual license fee of five hundred dollars for the next succeeding year. If the licensee fails to pay the required license fee pursuant to this subdivision by the thirtieth day of June, then the licensee shall be required to pay a late fee in the amount of one hundred dollars. 4. The superintendent may suspend or revoke a license on any ground on which he might refuse to issue an original license, or for a violation of any provision of this chapter or any regulation issued under this article, or for failure of the licensee to pay a judgment, recovered in any court, within or without this state, by a claimant or creditor in an action arising out of the licensee`s business in this state of selling or issuing checks or of receiving money for transmission or transmitting the same, within thirty days after the judgment becomes final or within thirty days after expiration or termination of a stay of execution thereon; provided, however, that if execution on the judgment be stayed, by court order or operation of law or otherwise, then proceedings to suspend or revoke the license (for failure of the licensee to pay such judgment) may not be commenced by the superintendent during the time of such stay, and for thirty days thereafter. 5. No license shall be suspended or revoked except after a hearing thereon. The superintendent shall give the licensee at least ten days` written notice of the time and place of such hearing by registered or certified mail addressed to the principal place of business of such licensee. Any order of the superintendent suspending or revoking such license shall state the grounds upon which it is based and shall not be effective until ten days after written notice thereof has been sent by registered or certified mail to the licensee at such principal place of business, except that revocation by reason of the licensee`s bond not being kept in full force and effect as required by this article, or by reason of failure to keep on deposit sufficient securities or funds as required by this article, may take effect immediately if the superintendent so orders. 6. The superintendent may, on good cause shown, or where there is a substantial risk of public harm, suspend any license issued pursuant to this article for a period not exceeding thirty days, pending investigation. "Good cause", as used in this subdivision, shall exist only when the licensee has defaulted or is likely to default in performing its financial engagements or engages in dishonest or inequitable practices which may cause substantial harm to the persons afforded the protection of this article. S 643. Bond or securities. 1. As a condition for the issuance and retention of the license, applicants for a license and other licensees shall, within thirty days after notice by the superintendent, or such longer or shorter period as he shall prescribe, file with the superintendent one or more corporate surety bond or bonds, as required below, in form satisfactory to him and issued by a bonding company or insurance company authorized to do business in this state. One bond shall be in favor of the superintendent and in such principal amount as he shall determine is necessary or desirable for the protection of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments sold or to be sold by the applicant or licensee, provided, however, that until June first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, the principal amount of such bond shall be no less than two hundred ten thousand dollars and on and after June first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, the principal amount of such bond shall be no less than five hundred thousand dollars. If the applicant or licensee intends to engage or engages in the sale of New York traveler`s checks, such applicant or licensee shall file with the superintendent a separate bond. Said bond shall be in favor of the superintendent and in such principal amount as he shall determine is necessary or desirable for the protection of the purchasers and holders of the New York traveler`s checks sold or to be sold by the applicant or licensee; provided, however, that the principal amount of such bond shall not be less than seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, unless the superintendent, for good cause shown, shall have determined that a lesser amount will adequately protect the purchasers and holders of the New York traveler`s checks sold or to be sold by such applicant or licensee. In making any determination under this subdivision one, the superintendent may take into account the financial condition of the licensee, the number of locations in this state at which the licensee, either directly or through agents or sub-agents, transacts the business of selling New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks , the controls imposed on such agents or sub-agents, and the possible exposure of purchasers and holders of New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks to loss in the event of the insolvency, bankruptcy or other financial impairment of the licensee. The proceeds of each bond shall constitute a trust fund for the exclusive benefit of the purchasers and holders of the New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks, as the case may be. Except as otherwise provided in the following sentence, in the event of the insolvency or bankruptcy of any licensee, the proceeds of the bond or bonds held for the exclusive benefit of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments and the proceeds of the bond or bonds held for the exclusive benefit of the purchasers and holders of New York traveler`s checks shall be paid to the superintendent forthwith for disposition in accordance with the provisions of this article. If any New York instruments have been assigned to the fund, the proceeds of the bond held for the exclusive benefit of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments shall constitute a trust fund for the benefit of, and shall be payable to, the fund to the extent of such assignment. From time to time, the superintendent may require, upon thirty days notice or such longer or shorter period as he shall prescribe, that such bond or bonds be increased if he shall determine that such increase is necessary or desirable for the protection of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks. 2. The licensee shall give notice to the superintendent by registered or certified mail of any action which shall be brought against him and of any judgment which shall be entered against him by such purchaser or holder of a New York instrument or a New York traveler`s check, with details sufficient to identify the action or judgment, within ten days after the commencement of any such action or notice to the licensee of entry of any such judgment. The corporate surety shall within ten days after it pays any claim or judgment to any such purchaser or holder of a New York instrument or a New York traveler`s check give notice to the superintendent by registered mail of such payment, with details sufficient to identify the purchaser or holder and the claim or judgment so paid. Whenever the principal sum of such bond or bonds is reduced by one or more recoveries or payments thereon the licensee shall furnish a new or additional bond or bonds under the provisions of this section, so that the total or aggregate principal sum of such bond or bonds shall equal the sum required pursuant to the provisions of this section, or shall furnish an endorsement duly executed by the corporate surety reinstating the bond or bonds to the required principal sum thereof. The liability of the surety on such bond or bonds to the superintendent and to the said purchasers and holders of New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks shall not be affected in any way by any misrepresentation, breach of warranty or failure to pay the premium or by any act or omission upon the part of the licensee nor by the insolvency or bankruptcy of the licensee or the insolvency of the licensee`s estate, and in the event of the death or dissolution or liquidation of the licensee, shall continue upon all transactions entered into by the agents of such deceased, dissolved or liquidated licensee within a period of thirty days after the death, dissolution or liquidation of the licensee or termination of the bond or bonds, whichever date shall first occur, provided, however, that such transactions were entered into in good faith by such purchasers and holders of New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks. Every such corporate surety bond shall provide that in the event that a judgment recovered against the licensee or its legal representative or successor by any such purchaser or holder on a claim arising or a transaction entered into during the life of the bond shall remain unsatisfied after the expiration of thirty days from the service of notice of entry of judgment upon the licensee or upon his legal representative or successor or upon the attorney for the licensee, and upon the corporate surety, or in the event that the fund has become an assignee of any claim arising or a transaction entered into during the life of the bond, then an action may be maintained against the corporate surety under the terms of the bond (1) by such purchaser or holder for the amount of such judgment not exceeding the amount of the bond, except during a stay of execution of such judgment against the licensee or his legal representatives or successors, or (2) by the superintendent, on behalf of the fund, for the amount of such claim, not exceeding the amount of the bond. The bond may not be cancelled either by the licensee or the surety except upon notice to the superintendent by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested, the cancellation to be effective not less than ten days after receipt by the superintendent of such notice. 3. In lieu of such corporate surety bond or bonds, or of any portion of the principal sum thereof as required by this section, applicants for a license and other licensees may keep on deposit, or may be required to keep on deposit by the superintendent, with such banks or trust companies or national banks in the state of New York as such applicants or licensees may designate and the superintendent may approve, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as the superintendent shall from time to time promulgate, interest-bearing stocks and bonds, notes, debentures or other obligations of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or guaranteed by the United States, or of this state, or of a city, county, town, village, school district or instrumentality of this state, or guaranteed by this state, or dollar deposits, to an aggregate amount, based upon principal amount or market value, whichever is lower, in the case of the above-described securities, of not less than the amount of the required corporate surety bond or bonds or portion or portions thereof. Such securities or funds shall be deposited to secure the same obligation or obligations as would the corporate surety bond or bonds filed under this section. So long as it shall continue business in the ordinary course, such licensee shall be permitted to collect interest on the securities so deposited and from time to time to exchange, examine and compare such securities. In the event of the failure or insolvency of such licensee, the securities, any

proceeds therefrom and the funds deposited pursuant to this section shall constitute a trust fund for the exclusive benefit of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks, as the case may be, or, in the event such New York instruments are assigned to the fund, securities, any proceeds therefrom and the funds deposited pursuant to this section for the benefit of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments shall constitute a trust fund , for the benefit of the fund. 4. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, if the superintendent shall find that a licensee has transacted the business of money transmission in this state for a period of five consecutive years and that such business has been conducted honestly, efficiently and safely and that the licensee`s financial condition is sound and that its New York instruments are insured, the superintendent may dispense with, modify or eliminate any of the foregoing requirements of this section with respect to New York instruments; provided, however, that if at any time subsequent thereto, the superintendent shall deem it necessary or desirable for the protection of the purchasers and holders of New York instruments, to reinstate any of the requirements of this section, he may do so. S 644. Transfer of securities or substitution of bond. An individual, partnership or unincorporated association which, pursuant to paragraph six of section one hundred eighty of this chapter, as in effect on December thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, has securities on deposit with the superintendent on the date it shall have filed an application pursuant to section six hundred forty-one of this chapter for a license as a transmitter of money, may elect that such securities be held by the superintendent pursuant to section six hundred forty-three of this article, and in that event, if such license is issued to such individual, partnership or unincorporated association, such securities shall be deposited pursuant to the provisions of section six hundred forty-three of this chapter and credited against the aggregate deposit or bond requirements under such section to secure the payment of claims arising out of transactions in this state for the sale or issuance of checks or the receipt of money for transmission or the transmission of the same. If a license as a transmitter of money shall have been issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter to an individual, partnership or unincorporated association, which shall have deposited securities with the superintendent pursuant to such paragraph, and such licensee shall have filed a bond pursuant to section six hundred forty-three of this chapter, such securities shall be returned to such individual, partnership or unincorporated association, if such bond shall expressly provide that the liability of the surety thereunder shall cover also claims then in existence or arising thereafter pursuant to such paragraph six of section one hundred eighty of this chapter on account of any payments of money to such individual, partnership or unincorporated association for transmission. S 645. Assignment of claims to superintendent. At the written request of any claimant or creditor of the licensee whose claim is based on a transaction, in this state, for the sale or issuance of a check or the receipt of money for transmission or transmission of the same, under the provisions of this article, the superintendent may, in his discretion, take an assignment of such claim in trust for the benefit of the assigning claimant or creditor and may bring any legal action necessary to collect such claim. Two or more such claims against the licensee may be combined in one such action. S 646. Investigations, hearings and reports. 1. The superintendent shall have the power to make such investigations and conduct such hearings as he shall deem necessary to determine whether any licensee or any other person has violated any of the provisions of this article, or whether any licensee has conducted himself in such manner as would justify the suspension or revocation of his license. 2. In making any investigation or conducting any hearing pursuant to the provisions of this article, the superintendent, or any person duly designated by him, shall have the power at all times to subpoena witnesses; to take depositions of witnesses residing without the state, in the manner provided for in civil actions in courts of record; to pay such witnesses the fees and mileage for their attendance provided for witnesses in civil actions in courts of record; and to administer oaths. He shall also have the power to compel by order or subpoena the production of and to examine all relevant books, records, accounts and other documents. Any person who fails to obey the command of the subpoena without reasonable excuse, or refuses without reasonable cause to be served or to be examined or to answer a question or to produce a book or paper when ordered so to do, or fails to perform any act required hereunder to be performed, shall be subject to the compulsions in such cases made and provided by law, and if the person be licensed hereunder, the superintendent shall have the right to suspend or revoke the license. 3. The superintendent may require of any licensee such reports, under oath or otherwise, concerning the licensee`s business in this state, as he may deem necessary for the enforcement of this article. 4. All reports of investigations and other reports rendered pursuant to this section, and all correspondence and memoranda concerning or arising out of such investigations or reports, including any duly authenticated copy or copies thereof in the possession of any licensee or the banking department, shall be confidential communications, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be made public unless, in the judgment of the superintendent, the ends of justice and the public advantage will be subserved by the publication thereof, in which event he may publish or authorize the publication of a copy of any such report or other material referred to in this subdivision four, or any part thereof, in such manner as he may deem proper. S 647. Judicial review. The refusal by the superintendent of an original license, in the case of an applicant which, prior to January first, nineteen hundred sixty-three, and upon the date of filing such application, has lawfully been engaged in this state in the business of selling or issuing checks or of receiving money for transmission or transmitting the same, and in all cases the suspension or revocation of any license by the superintendent, shall be subject to judicial review in the manner in such cases made and provided by law. S 648. Agents and subagents. A licensee may conduct its business at one or more locations within this state, as follows: (a) The business may be conducted through or by means of such agents and subagents as the licensee may from time to time designate or appoint. (b) No license under this article shall be required of any agent or subagent of a licensee except as provided in the following subsection. (c) An agent or subagent, other than a person expressly excepted from the application of this article, who sells or delivers the licensee`s checks over-the-counter to the public shall not be exempt from licensing under this article if such agent or subagent in the ordinary conduct of such business receives or at any time has access to (1) the licensee`s checks which, having been paid, are returned through banking channels or otherwise for verification or for reconciliation or accounting with respect thereto or (2) bank statements relating to checks so returned. No license under this article shall be required of an agent, including a general or managing agent, of a licensee who does not directly sell or deliver the licensee`s checks over-the-counter to the public. S 649. Rules and regulations. The superintendent is hereby authorized and empowered to make such rules and regulations as may in his judgment be necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of this article. S 650. Violations and penalties. 1. Any person who violates or participates in the violation of any provisions of this article, or who knowingly makes any incorrect statement of a material fact in any application, report or statement made pursuant to this article, or who knowingly omits to state any material fact necessary to give the superintendent any information lawfully required by him or refuses to permit any lawful investigation by the superintendent shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months or both, in the discretion of the court. 2. a. Any person who either (1) engages in the business of receiving money for transmission or transmitting the same or (2) sells or issues New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks as those terms are defined by section six hundred fifty-three of this chapter, without a license therefor obtained from the superintendent as provided in this article, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. b. Any person who violates paragraph a of this subdivision and in the course of that violation: (1) knowingly receives or agrees to receive for transmission from one or more individuals a total of ten thousand dollars or more in a single transaction, a total of twenty-five thousand dollars or more during a period of thirty days or less, or a total of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or more during a period of one year or less; or (2) knowingly sells or issues New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks to one or more individuals totaling ten thousand dollars or more in a single transaction, a total of twenty-five thousand dollars or more during a period of thirty days or less, or a total of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or more during a period of one year or less; or (3) knowingly engages in the business of receiving money for transmitting or transmitting the same, knowing such money to be the proceeds of any criminal conduct; or (4) knowingly sells or issues New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks as those terms are defined by section six hundred fifty-three of this chapter, knowing such instruments or checks to be purchased with the proceeds of or derived from any criminal conduct; shall be guilty of a class E felony. 3. Any licensee who fails to make any report required by the superintendent pursuant to this article, on or before the day designated for the making thereof, or fails to include therein any prescribed matter, shall forfeit to the people of the state the sum of one hundred dollars for every day that such report shall be delayed or withheld, and for every day that it shall fail to report any such omitted matter, unless the superintendent shall, in his sole discretion, for good cause shown, reduce the amount to be forfeited, or unless the time therefor shall have been extended by the superintendent, as provided in paragraph three of this section. 4. The superintendent may extend, for a period not exceeding ninety days, the time within which a licensee is required to make any report required by the superintendent pursuant to this article. S 651. Investments. Every licensee, other than a foreign banking corporation licensed pursuant to the provisions of article two of this chapter, shall at all times maintain permissible investments having (i) a market value, computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, at least equal to the aggregate of the amount of all its outstanding payment instruments and all its outstanding traveler`s checks or (ii) a net carrying value, computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, at least equal to the aggregate of the amount of all its outstanding payment instruments and all its outstanding traveler`s checks so long as the market value of such permissible investments is at least eighty per centum of the net carrying value. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the superintendent shall have the authority, for good cause shown, to (1) exempt from the requirements of this section any licensee and/or (2) extend for up to two years the period within which any licensee must comply with this section. S 651-a. Remittances. Each agent or subagent of a licensee which sells any New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks issued by such licensee shall, and each licensee shall so require each of its agents which sells any New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks issued by such licensee to report such sale and remit the face amount of New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks to such licensee within such period of time as the licensee requires within the normal course of its business or as the superintendent, by rule or regulation, may prescribe. For purposes of this section, remittance shall include either direct payment of such funds to the licensee or the deposit of such funds in a banking organization, national bank, federal savings and loan association, federal credit union, or a banking institution chartered under the laws of another state or country, in an account in the name of such licensee specifically established for the purpose of receiving such funds. Remittance by such agent to such licensee or deposit by such agent in such account or its equivalent of funds in advance of the sale of such New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks, in an amount not less than the amount said agent would normally receive from such sales of New York instruments and New York traveler`s checks, shall be deemed compliance with the provisions of this section. S 651-b. Maintenance of books and records by agents. Each licensee shall require of each of its agents to make and keep such accounts, correspondence, memoranda, papers, books and other records as the superintendent by regulation or order requires. All records so required shall be preserved for the time specified by the regulation or order of the superintendent. S 652. Severability. If any provision of this article, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this article, and the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby. S 652-a. Changes in control. 1. It shall be unlawful except with the prior approval of the superintendent for any action to be taken which results in a change of control of the business of a licensee. Prior to any change of control, the person desirous of acquiring control of the business of a licensee shall make written application to the superintendent and pay an investigation fee of one thousand dollars to the superintendent. The application shall contain such information as the superintendent, by rule or regulation, may prescribe as necessary or appropriate for the purpose of making the determination required by subdivision two of this section. 2. The superintendent shall disapprove the proposed change of control of a licensee if, after notice to and an opportunity to be heard by the applicant and such licensee, he finds the acquisition of control therein contrary to law or determines that disapproval is reasonably necessary to protect the interest of the people of this state. In making such determination, the superintendent shall consider (a) whether the character, responsibility and general fitness of the person which seeks to control such licensee are such as to command confidence and warrant belief that the business of such licensee will be honestly and efficiently conducted in a manner consistent with the public interest, (b) whether the exercise of control may impair the safe and sound conduct of the business of such licensee, the conservation of its assets or public confidence in its business, and (c) primarily, the public interest and the needs and convenience thereof. Unless the superintendent shall have denied such application in writing within one hundred fifty days of the filing thereof, such application shall be deemed approved. If the superintendent disapproves such application, or, if no such application has been made, upon consummation of the acquisition of control, the license of the licensee shall become null and void and the applicant or licensee, whoever has possession of such license, shall forthwith surrender to the superintendent the license theretofore in effect. 3. For a period of six months from the date of qualification thereof and for such additional period of time as the superintendent may prescribe, in writing, the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section shall not apply to a transfer of control by operation of law to the legal representative, as hereinafter defined, of one who has control of a licensee. Thereafter, such legal representative shall comply with the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section. The provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section shall be applicable to an application made under such section by a legal representative. The term "legal representative", for the purposes of this section, shall mean one duly appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction to act as executor, administrator, trustee, committee, conservator or receiver, including one who succeeds a legal representative and one acting in an ancillary capacity thereto in accordance with the provisions of such court appointment. 4. As used in this section the term "control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a licensee, whether through the ownership of voting stock of such licensee, the ownership of voting stock of any person which possesses such power or otherwise. Control shall be presumed to exist if any person directly or indirectly, owns, controls, or holds with power to vote twenty-five per centum or more of the voting stock of any licensee or of any person which owns, controls or holds with power to vote twenty-five per centum or more of the voting stock of such licensee, but no person shall be deemed to control a licensee solely by reason of his being an officer or director of such licensee or person. The superintendent may in his discretion, upon the application of a licensee or any person who, directly or indirectly, owns, controls or holds with power to vote or seeks to own, control or hold with power to vote any voting stock of such licensee, determine whether or not the ownership, control or holding of such voting stock constitutes or would constitute control of such licensee for purposes of this section. S 652-b. Tying arrangements. 1. It shall be unlawful for any transmitter of money or its officers, affiliates or subsidiaries to enter into an agreement with a check casher, licensed pursuant to the provisions of article nine-A of this chapter, whereby credit is extended to the check casher at the same time as, and on the condition that, the transmitter of money enters into an agreement with the check casher whereby the check casher will (1) sell only the New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks of the transmitter of money or (2) agree to the exclusive use of any of the other services of the transmitter of money. This section shall not apply to the issuance by a transmitter of money of a guarantee of any indebtedness of a check casher licensed pursuant to the provisions of article nine-A of this chapter. 2. For purposes of this section the term "transmitter of money" means a licensee, as such term is defined in subdivision two of section six hundred forty of this article, a bank, trust company, private banker, savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union and an investment company, which either directly or through agents or sub-agents transacts the business in this state of selling or issuing New York instruments or New York traveler`s checks. For purposes of this section the terms "New York instruments" and "New York traveler`s checks" shall have the meaning ascribed to them by section six hundred fifty-three of this chapter.

New York Banking Law

Article 13-B, Transmitters of Money