Since I served as Commissioner of Corporations in the 1990s, the Department of Corporations has consolidated with the Department of Financial Institutions and changed its name twice. It is now known by the unwieldy name of...more
It is a peculiar hubris of California's legislators that they often presume to extend the application of the state's laws beyond its legal borders. Corporations Code Section 2115, for example, presumes to apply multiple...more
California generally requires that persons engaged in the business of making loans be licensed. If not licensed under some other statute (such as the banking, credit union or residential mortgage lending laws), a lender will...more
Recently, I wrote about the California Office of Administrative Law's rejection of regulations proposed by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. These proposed regulations were intended to "implement,...more
There is certainly no lack of persons actively violating the seventh or eighth commandment (depending upon who is counting). Last week, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation announced that it has...more
Last year, the California legislature enacted a bill, SB 54 (Skinner), that requires a "a venture capital" company to report annually to the Civil Rights Department on its funding determinations related to companies primarily...more
Article 14, Section 12 of the California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget to the Legislature by January 10 of each year. The Constitution further required that the budget be accompanied by a budget bill,...more
In March 2023, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation proposed to adopt numerous regulations to "implement, interpret, and make specific registration requirements for covered persons under the...more
In this post from 14 years ago, I speculated as to whether California Financial Code Section 1327 was constitutional. Two years later, the California Court of Appeal declared the statute unconstitutional. Summit Bank v....more
Last week the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued a report of its activities under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law. The California legislature enacted the CCFPL in 2020 for the...more
California Corporations Code Section 25118(b) provides an exemption from the state's usury limitations for loans. The exemption is subject to several conditions. One condition is the existence of either a preexisting...more
4/15/2024
/ Borrowers ,
California ,
Cartels ,
Corporations Code ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities ,
Usury
Last week, Senator Steven M. Glazer introduced a bill, SB 1482, that would require licensing of "commercial financing providers" and "commercial financing brokers" with the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation...more
Each year, licensees under the California Financing Law (Cal. Fin. Code § 22000 et seq.) must file an annual report with the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The report is due on the Ides of March (the Ides...more
The California Finance Lenders Law prohibits any "person" from engaging in the business of a "finance lender" without a license, unless otherwise exempt. Cal. Fin. Code § 22100(a). The CFL defines a "finance lender" as...more
In October, I reported on the Governor's signing of AB 39 which creates the Digital Financial Assets Law. On or after July 1, 2025, the DFAL will prohibit a person from engaging in digital financial asset business activity...more
In June of 2022, I reported on the adoption of commercial financial disclosure rules by the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. These rules were adopted pursuant legislation, SB 1235, that was enacted...more
While the California Financing Law defines "finance lender", it does so in a very open-ended and nonspecific manner. Cal. Fin. Code § 22009 ("'Finance lender' includes any person who is engaged in the business of making...more
Beginning in January, "covered entities" will be prohibited from charging specified fees in connection with a commercial financing transaction with a "small business" or "small business" owner. Cal. Stat. ch. 881 (SB 666). ...more
11/13/2023
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Covered Entities ,
Fees ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Lending ,
New Legislation ,
Payment Processors ,
Small Business
Yesterday's post concerned discussed Lagrisola v. North American Financial Corp., 2023 WL 7273708 (Nov. 3, 2023), in which the Court of Appeal held that a borrower had failed to plead a cause of action against an unlicensed...more
Section 22100 of the California Financial Code prohibits persons from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license from the California Commissioner of Financial Protection & Innovation. ...more
A year ago, Governor Newsom vetoed a bill, AB 2269, which would have established a Digital Financial Assets Law. At the time, the Governor claimed that it was "premature to lock a licensing structure in statute". What a...more
The many California laws are intended to protect borrowers. The California Financing Law, for example, provides that it is to be liberally construed to, among other things, "protect borrowers against unfair practices by some...more
Last week, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued a warning about yet another fraudster's attempt to separate investors from their money...more
Three years ago, Governor Newsom signed AB 1864 into law. This legislation gave the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation the authority to define unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices in connection with...more
In February, I wrote that Assembly Member Timothy S. Grayson was taking another run at enacting a Digital Financial Asset Law. His bill, AB 39, has steadily progressed and is now pending in the Senate. According to the...more