Sec. 505. (a) Subject to subsection (b), when an application for an original license under this chapter appears to include all the items, and to address all the matters, that are required for an application under this chapter, as determined by the director, the application is considered complete, and the director shall promptly notify the applicant, in a record, of the date on which the application is determined to be complete, and:

(1) the department shall approve or deny the application not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the completion date, as determined in accordance with this subsection; or

(2) if the application is not approved or denied not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the completion date:

(A) the application is considered approved; and

(B) the license takes effect as of the first business day after expiration of the one hundred twenty (120) day period.

However, the director may for good cause extend the one hundred twenty (120) day period described in this subsection.

     (b) A determination by the director that an application is complete and is accepted for processing means only that the application, on its face, appears to:

(1) include all of the items, including the criminal background check response from the Federal Bureau of Investigations; and

(2) address all of the matters;

that are required for an application for an original license under this chapter, and is not an assessment of the substance of the application or of the sufficiency of the information provided.

     (c) When an application is filed and considered complete under this section, the director shall investigate the applicant’s financial condition and responsibility, financial and business experience, character, and general fitness. The director may conduct an onsite investigation of the applicant, the reasonable cost of which the applicant shall pay. The department shall issue a license to an applicant under this section if the department finds that all of the following conditions have been met:

(1) The applicant has complied with sections 503 and 504 of this chapter.

(2) Both the:

(A) financial condition and responsibility, financial and business experience, competence, character, and general fitness of the applicant; and

(B) competence, experience, character, and general fitness of the key individuals with respect to, and persons in control of, the applicant;

indicate that it is in the interest of the public to permit the applicant to engage in money transmission.

     (d) If an applicant avails itself or is otherwise subject to a multistate licensing process:

(1) the director may accept the investigation results of a lead investigative state for the purpose of subsection (c), if the lead investigative state has sufficient staffing, expertise, and minimum standards; or

(2) if Indiana is a lead investigative state, the director may investigate the applicant pursuant to subsection (c) and to the timeframes established by agreement through the multistate licensing process, as long as the time frames established comply with the time frame set forth subsection (a)(1) for the approval or denial of the application.

     (e) The department shall issue a formal written notice of the denial of a license application not later than thirty (30) days after the decision to deny the application. The department shall set forth in the notice of denial the specific reasons for the denial of the application. An applicant whose application is denied by the department under this subsection may appeal the denial to the department for an administrative review under IC 4-21.5-3.

     (f) The initial license term begins on the day the application is approved. The license expires on December 31 of the year in which the license term begins, unless the initial license date is between November 1 and December 31, in which case the initial license term runs through December 31 of the following year.

As added by P.L.198-2023, SEC.4.