Washington Administrative Code

Yes. The director has the authority to waive the licensing provisions of the act upon a determination the waiver facilitates commerce and protects consumers.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.320.040, 19.230.310, 2010 c 37. WSR 10-20-123, § 208-690-016, filed 10/5/10, effective 11/5/10…

The following are excluded:(1) Pursuant to RCW 19.230.020 (6) and (7):(a) Activities regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or exempt from registration with the CFTC;(b) Clearance or settlement services provided by a person to a board of trade as designate…

(1) Any person otherwise exempt from licensing under the provisions of the act may voluntarily submit an application to the director for a money transmitter or currency exchange license. The director shall review such application and may grant or deny licenses to such applicants …

What must I do to apply for a license? You must file:(1) A completed application in a form and in a medium prescribed by the director through the NMLS. See RCW 19.230.040 for the required contents of the application. In addition, the application must contain:(a) The fingerprints …

If you do not respond as directed within forty-five days to the department's request for additional required information, your money transmission or currency exchange license application is considered abandoned and you forfeit all fees paid. Failure to provide the requested infor…

What are the rules I must comply with when I have authorized delegates?(1) Only a licensee may designate an authorized delegate.(2) A person accepting consumers' funds for transmission through an exempt or excluded entity under RCW 19.230.020 is not an authorized delegate but is …

An authorized delegate must not advertise or provide money services under its own name without an equally prominent display of the licensee's name, in close proximity, on all advertising, including websites. An authorized delegate must not use its name alone when advertising mone…

What are the bonding requirements?(1) You must continuously maintain a surety bond as required by RCW 19.230.050, issued by a company authorized to do surety business in this state, as a surety. The surety may not be a wholly owned subsidiary or affiliate of the applicant or lice…

What are the bonding requirements?(1) You must continuously maintain a surety bond as required by RCW 19.230.055, issued by a company authorized to do surety business in this state, as a surety. The surety may not be a wholly owned subsidiary or affiliate of the applicant or lice…

Will the department ever require an increase in the amount of the surety bond? The director may increase the amount of the surety bond, to a maximum of one million dollars, if the financial condition of a money transmitter or online currency exchanger applicant or licensee so req…

What are the rules for my tangible net worth requirements?(1) A money transmitter applicant or licensee must demonstrate and maintain tangible net worth calculated at ten thousand dollars for every one million dollars of total company-wide money transmission and payment instrumen…

When may the department deny my license application?(1) Director may deny a money services license if the director determines that:(a) The application is incomplete;(b) The surety bond or net worth requirements of WAC 208-690-040 through 208-690-060 have not been met;(c) The gene…

When may the department take other action against my license? The director may revoke or suspend a license and issue an order to cease and desist operations as a money services licensee if:(1) Another jurisdiction initiates an adverse action against the money services license of …

(1) In addition to the records required to be retained under RCW 19.230.170, you must keep records in compliance with federal law. You must maintain a record of money transmittals in accordance with applicable sections of Financial Recordkeeping and Reporting of Currency and Fore…

When must I provide audited financial statements?(1) You are required to have an audited financial statement prepared annually by a licensed or certified individual or firm in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The financials must be submitted prior to or w…

(1) You must maintain permissible investment levels pursuant to RCW 19.230.200.(2) In addition to the permissible investments allowed in RCW 19.230.210(2), a permissible investment may also include receivables from banks and credit cards.(3) Monthly reports about permissible inve…

What are the annual report and assessment requirements? Every licensee must submit a completed annual report and annual license assessment fee prescribed by WAC 208-690-140. The completed report and the fee must be received in the department office no later than 5:00 p.m. July 1,…

(1) If you fail to submit the required annual report and annual assessment fee by July 1, each year, the director may suspend your license and assess a late fee. The late fee is ten percent of the annual assessment if submitted thirty or fewer days late and twenty-five percent of…

(1) The annual assessment is calculated by multiplying 0.0004 by the previous year's adjusted Washington volume of money transmission, currency exchange, prepaid access sales, and payment instrument sales, with a minimum assessment of one thousand dollars and a maximum assessment…

You are required to file accurate and complete call reports on the dates and in a form prescribed by the NMLS.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.320.040 and 19.230.310. WSR 18-13-108, § 208-690-105, filed 6/19/18, effective 8/1/18.]

What must I report to the department if something about my business changes? Material changes described in this section must be reported to the director through the NMLS within thirty days of the occurrence of the change. "Material change" means any change that is not trivial, an…

What events about my business must I report to the department? You must file a report with the director within one business day after you have reason to know of the occurrence of any of the following events:(1) The filing of a petition by or against the licensee, or any authorize…

What must I do to request approval for a change of control of my business? You must request approval of a change of control at least thirty days prior to the proposed change of control. The request for approval must include:(1) A comprehensive description of the proposed change t…

You must update your NMLS record within thirty days of the following:(1) Obtaining an additional licensee branch location to provide money services in Washington.(2) Contracting with a new authorized delegate.(3) Closing a licensee branch location.(4) Terminating an authorized de…

Licensees must have written policies and procedures for the destruction of records maintained pursuant to the act, including electronic records. The destruction of records must be accomplished so that the information cannot be reconstructed or read. The destruction of consumer cr…

What are the fees I must pay to get a license? You must pay the following fees:(1) A application fee of one thousand dollars.(2) An additional fee of one hundred dollars for each additional location where you or an authorized delegate will provide money services, up to a maximum …

What fees must I pay to make changes to my license?(1) You must pay fifty dollars to add an authorized delegate to your roster of authorized delegates. The fee for adding authorized delegates is capped at five thousand dollars per quarter.(2) You must pay thirty dollars for the f…

What fees will I be charged if the department investigates or examines my business?(1) The director will collect fees of seventy-five dollars per hour for investigations.(2) The licensee, applicant or person subject to licensing under this chapter who is the subject of an examina…

(1) When may the department examine or investigate my business? See RCW 19.230.130(1).(2) If the director determines that there is a danger that original records may be destroyed, altered, or removed to deny access, or hinder an examination or investigation, or that original docu…

(1) For general money transmission transactions, the receipt must include your name, physical or mailing address, and phone number in addition to the fee and exchange rate disclosure information as required by RCW 19.230.330 (2)(a). A website address may be used in lieu of a phys…

(1) Disclosures may be provided electronically.(2) For all transactions. You must disclose to the consumer prior to the transaction that fraudulent transactions may result in the loss of their money with no recourse.(3) For virtual currency transactions. When applicable, you must…

You must ensure you are in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.320.040 and 19.230.310. WSR 16-14-022, § 208-690-210, filed 6/27/16, effective 8/1/16.]

The director may deny a request for a proposed business name or trade name if the name is similar to a currently existing licensee name, contains the word bank or any derivative of the word bank, or is otherwise deceptive.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.320.040 and 19.230.310. WSR 1…

You may use a trade or other name under the following circumstances:(1) You have input the proposed trade or other name into the NMLS.(2) You have received approval from the department.(3)(a) You have clearly and conspicuously disclosed the company's legal name and NMLS number in…

Each licensee shall establish and maintain an information security program to ensure the availability and functionality of the licensee's electronic systems and to protect those systems and any sensitive data stored on those systems from unauthorized access, use, or tampering. Th…

(1) Generally, applicants and licensees must have a written program appropriate to the company's size and complexity, the activity conducted, and the sensitivity of information at issue. The program must ensure the information's security and confidentiality, protect against antic…

(1) You must comply with GLBA, as amended, and Regulation P. If the GLBA amendment applies to you, you may be able to provide fewer notices regarding your privacy policies.Privacy policies describe whether and how you share consumers' nonpublic personal information, including per…

If your data is compromised, you may be subject to chapter 19.255 RCW and may have to provide notices to consumers whose information was acquired. Under certain circumstances notice of the breach may also be required by the attorney general's office.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.3…

You must have a written plan that details the company's response and recovery to any event that results in damage to or destruction of books and records or a data breach. The plan must be maintained as part of your books and records.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.320.040 and 19.230…

The definitions in this section apply throughout the chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Department" means the department of financial institutions.(2) "Director" means the director of the department.(3) "Mortgage lending fraud prosecution account" or "acco…

The director is authorized to disburse funds held under this chapter to cover the expenses of any prosecutorial agency for the purposes of prosecuting fraudulent activities in the mortgage lending process, whether the knowledge of such activity arises from a direct complaint or t…

(1) At the director's discretion, the department may establish any of the following means for application, approval and disbursement of funds:a. A written agreement or memorandum of understanding with a prosecutorial agency covering expenses for a set period of time or the expens…

The director is not required to disburse any funds unless the mortgage lending fraud prosecution account contains sufficient funds to cover planned disbursements under an agreement, memorandum of understanding or approved application. At no time shall the director or the departme…

(1) Pursuant to RCW 43.320.115, the department of financial institutions maintains a securities prosecution fund. Moneys from the securities prosecution fund may be available for payment of costs, expenses and charges incurred in the preparation, initiation and prosecution of cri…

The rules in this chapter implement the provisions of the Washington small business retirement marketplace, RCW 43.330.730 through 43.330.750, and 43.320.180, as they relate to the department of financial institutions.The legislature created the Washington small business retireme…

Financial services firms that are regulated by the department of financial institutions or by a federal agency with authority over banking, securities, or broker-dealer firms, and that meet all federal laws and regulations to offer retirement plans, are eligible to apply to the d…

(1) Financial services firms that are eligible under WAC 208-710-020 to apply for verification from the department of financial institutions may do so by submitting an application for verification as described in WAC 208-710-040, 208-710-060, or 208-710-070.(2) The department of …

Financial service firms that seek verification of retirement plans from the department of financial institutions for inclusion on the Washington small business retirement marketplace must submit a separate application for each retirement plan for which verification is sought. The…

The department of financial institutions will review applications for verification to ensure that retirement plans meet the following criteria established by RCW 43.330.732(7) and 43.330.735:(1) The financial services firm offering the retirement plan must be licensed or hold a c…

(1) To apply to renew the verification of a retirement plan for inclusion on the Washington small business retirement marketplace for a subsequent one-year period, the financial services firm offering the plan must submit the following to the department of financial institutions …