Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Purpose of Section 15-1002.1 of the Act
1) Section 15-1002.1 of the Act establishes a
system in which the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional
Regulation (DFPR) will include unclaimed property compliance as part of the
regular audits or examinations performed on State-regulated financial
organizations. Because DFPR will perform regular examinations of these
entities, the administrator will not perform unclaimed property examinations of
these State-regulated financial organizations pursuant to Section 15-1002 of
the Act.
2) State-regulated
financial organizations whose operations are either entirely or almost entirely
within the State of Illinois shall be regularly examined by DFPR for compliance
with unclaimed property laws. This should both ensure compliance with the Act
and generally subject these State-regulated financial organizations to only one
set of unclaimed property examinations.
3) Section 15-1002.1 of the Act is not,
however, intended to restrict the ability of the administrator to examine
national banks, national credit unions, and other financial organizations that
operate in multiple states. For financial organizations that operate in
multiple states or are created pursuant to a federal law, the administrator
should either participate in multi-state examinations to determine compliance
with the Act and similar unclaimed property laws of other states or otherwise
perform an unclaimed property examination pursuant to Section 15-1002 of the
Act.
b) Entities for
which DFPR is the Primary Prudential Regulator. The administrator may perform
an unclaimed property examination of a financial organization for which DFPR is
the primary prudential regulator when either:
1) the administrator consults with DFPR and
DFPR has not examined the State-regulated financial organization for compliance
with the Act within the past 5 years; or
2) DFPR waives, in writing, the restrictions
of Section 15-1002.1 and permits the administrator to examine a financial
organization or group of financial organizations for compliance with the
Act.
c) Federally
Chartered Financial Organizations
1)
The administrator may, at reasonable times and upon reasonable
notice:A)
examine the
records of a financial organization that is a federally chartered bank, savings
bank, or credit union if the administrator has reason to believe that the
financial organization has failed to comply with the
Act;
B)
issue an administrative subpoena requiring the financial organization
or an agent of the financial organization to make records available for
examination; and
C)
bring an action seeking judicial enforcement of the subpoena.
[765 ILCS
1026/15-1002.1(c)]
2) Reasons to believe under (c)(1)(A) of this
Section include, but are not limited to, the following:
A) A holder has submitted negative reports to
the administrator for two successive calendar years;
B) A holder has not submitted a report to the
administrator for two successive calendar years;
C) A holder does any of the following:
i) adjusts its asset statements by writing
off property that is presumed unclaimed property under the Act;
ii) fails to follow generally-accepted
accounting principles or the Act with respect to unidentified remittances or
the establishment of unclaimed property liability accounts;
iii) fails to follow generally-accepted
accounting principles or the Act with respect to reporting unidentified
credits;
iv) fails to retain
records 10 years beyond the period of abandonment to determine the reporting of
property which could be presumed abandoned under the Act; or
v) the holder's records precludes the holder
from reporting property which could be presumed abandoned under the
Act.
D) The administrator
is notified in writing by another governmental agency that a holder is not in
compliance with the Act;
E) The
total unclaimed property remitted by a holder is below the average remittance
for other holders in the same industry and that have assets of similar size to
the holder;
F) A holder does not
report all types of unclaimed property that they may be holding as indicated
by, but not limited to, the following:
i) a
previous examination of the holder; or
ii) a comparison with asset types reported by
other holders in the same industry and that have assets of similar size to the
holder.
G) A holder is
discovered as a subsidiary or affiliate of another holder which has been or is
being examined;
H) A holder is
discovered as a principal or holding company of another holder which has been
or is being examined;
I) An
unclaimed property examination of the records of the holder has not been
performed for 5 or more calendar years;
J) Changes in a holder's business practices
including, but not limited to, changes in financial status, technological
advances, corporate structure, or change in ownership; or
K) The administrator has issued a written
notice of deficiency to a holder.
3) This subsection (c) is intended to comply
with federal law applicable to federally chartered financial organizations
which provides that "lawfully authorized State auditors and examiners may, at
reasonable times and upon reasonable notice to a bank, review its records
solely to ensure compliance with applicable State unclaimed property or escheat
laws upon reasonable cause to believe that the bank has failed to comply with
such laws." [Section 412 of the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of
1982, Public Law 970-320 (Oct. 15, 1982)]
d) Primary Prudential Regulator. For purposes
of the Act, DFPR is the primary prudential regulator for entities:
1) for which it performs regular regulatory
examinations that include unclaimed property compliance at least once every 5
years;
2) that operate primarily or
exclusively in Illinois; and
3)
that are created pursuant to one of the following Acts: Illinois Banking Act
[205 ILCS 5 ], Savings Bank Act [205 ILCS 205 ], Pawnbroker Regulation Act [205
ILCS 510 ], Corporate Fiduciary Act [205 ILCS 620 ], Residential Mortgage
License Act of 1987 [205 ILCS 635 ], Illinois Credit Union Act [205 ILCS 305 ],
Currency Exchange Act [205 ILCS 405 ], Transmitters of Money Act [205 ILCS 657
], Sales Finance Agency Act [205 ILCS 660 ], Debt Management Service Act [205
ILCS 665 ], Consumer Installment Loan Act [205 ILCS 670 ], Title Insurance Act
[215 ILCS 155 ], Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act [225 ILCS 429 ],
Safety Deposit License Act [240 ILCS 5 ], Payday Loan Reform Act [815 ILCS 122
], Foreign Banking Office Act [205 ILCS 645 ], and Foreign Bank Representative
Office Act [205 ILCS 650 ].
e) Related Entities Not Covered by Section
15-1002.1
1) Nothing in this Section is
intended to restrict the ability of the administrator to perform an unclaimed
property examination pursuant to Section 15-1002 of the Act when DFPR is not
the primary prudential regulator. Thus, if a financial organization has DFPR as
a primary prudential regulator under this Section, but a separate entity
related to that financial organization does not have DFPR as a primary
prudential regulator, the administrator may perform an unclaimed property
examination of that entity pursuant to Section 15-1002 of the Act even if the
administrator would defer to DFPR's unclaimed property examination of the
financial organization pursuant to Section 15-1002.1.
2) EXAMPLE: If an investment company is
related to a state bank chartered by DFPR, the administrator would be able to
perform an unclaimed property examination of the investment company even if the
administrator would defer to DFPR's examination of the state-chartered
bank.
f) Disputes Over
Application. If there is a dispute over whether an entity is covered by Section
15-1002.1 of the Act, the administrator and DFPR should consult to resolve the
dispute using the framework established by Section 15-1002.1 of the Act and
subsection (a) of this Section.
g)
Training. When requested by DFPR, the administrator shall provide or otherwise
make available appropriate training to employees or representatives of DFPR
regarding the examination for compliance with the Act. DFPR shall be
responsible for all expenses incurred for the training of DFPR employees or
representatives.