(a) The Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation shall act as Administrator of Local Agency Security and shall be responsible for the administration of Sections 53638, 53651, 53651.2, 53651.4, 53651.6, 53652, 53654, 53655, 53656, 53657, 53658, 53659, 53660, 53661, 53663, 53664, 53665, 53666, and 53667.

(b) The administrator shall have the powers necessary or convenient to administer and enforce the sections specified in subdivision (a).

(c) (1) The administrator shall issue regulations consistent with law as the administrator may deem necessary or advisable in executing the powers, duties, and responsibilities assigned by this article. The regulations may include regulations prescribing standards for the valuation, marketability, and liquidity of the eligible securities of the class described in subdivision (m) of Section 53651, regulations prescribing procedures and documentation for adding, withdrawing, substituting, and holding pooled securities, and regulations prescribing the form, content, and execution of any application, report, or other document called for in any of the sections specified in subdivision (a) or in any regulation or order issued under any of those sections.

(2) The administrator, for good cause, may waive any provision of any regulation adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) or any order issued under this article, where the provision is not necessary in the public interest.

(d) The administrator may enter into any contracts or agreements as may be necessary, including joint underwriting agreements, to sell or liquidate eligible securities securing local agency deposits in the event of the failure of the depository or if the depository fails to pay all or part of the deposits of a local agency.

(e) The administrator shall require from every depository a report certified by the agent of depository listing all securities, and the market value thereof, which are securing local agency deposits together with the total deposits then secured by the pool, to determine whether there is compliance with Section 53652. These reports may be required whenever deemed necessary by the administrator, but shall be required at least four times each year at the times designated by the Comptroller of the Currency for reports from national banking associations. These reports shall be filed in the office of the administrator by the depository within 20 business days of the date the administrator calls for the report.

(f) The administrator may have access to reports of examination made by the Comptroller of the Currency insofar as the reports relate to national banking association trust department activities which are subject to this article.

(g) (1) The administrator shall require the immediate substitution of an eligible security, where the substitution is necessary for compliance with Section 53652, if (i) the administrator determines that a security listed in Section 53651 is not qualified to secure public deposits, or (ii) a treasurer, who has deposits secured by the securities pool, provides written notice to the administrator and the administrator confirms that a security in the pool is not qualified to secure public deposits.

(2) The failure of a depository to substitute securities, where the administrator has required the substitution, shall be reported by the administrator promptly to those treasurers having money on deposit in that depository and, in addition, shall be reported as follows:

(A) When that depository is a national bank, to the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States.

(B) When that depository is a state bank, to the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation.

(C) When that depository is a federal association, to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

(D) When that depository is a savings association, to the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation.

(E) When that depository is a federal credit union, to the National Credit Union Administration.

(F) When that depository is a state credit union or a federally insured industrial loan company, to the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation.

(h) The administrator may require from each treasurer a registration report and at appropriate times a report stating the amount and location of each deposit together with other information deemed necessary by the administrator for effective operation of this article. The facts recited in any report from a treasurer to the administrator are conclusively presumed to be true for the single purpose of the administrator fulfilling responsibilities assigned to them by this article and for no other purpose.

(i) (1) If, after notice and opportunity for hearing, the administrator finds that any depository or agent of depository has violated or is violating, or that there is reasonable cause to believe that any depository or agent of depository is about to violate, any of the sections specified in subdivision (a) or any regulation or order issued under any of those sections, the administrator may order the depository or agent of depository to cease and desist from the violation or may by order suspend or revoke the authorization of the agent of depository. The order may require the depository or agent of depository to take affirmative action to correct any condition resulting from the violation.

(2) (A) If the administrator makes any of the findings set forth in paragraph (1) with respect to any depository or agent of depository and, in addition, finds that the violation or the continuation of the violation is likely to seriously prejudice the interests of treasurers, the administrator may order the depository or agent of depository to cease and desist from the violation or may suspend or revoke the authorization of the agent of depository. The order may require the depository or agent of depository to take affirmative action to correct any condition resulting from the violation.

(B) Within five business days after an order is issued under subparagraph (A), the depository or agent of depository may file with the administrator an application for a hearing on the order. The administrator shall schedule a hearing at least 30 days, but not more than 40 days, after receipt of an application for a hearing or within a shorter or longer period of time agreed to by a depository or an agent of depository. If the administrator fails to schedule the hearing within the specified or agreed to time period, the order shall be deemed rescinded. Within 30 days after the hearing, the administrator shall affirm, modify, or rescind the order; otherwise, the order shall be deemed rescinded. The right of a depository or agent of depository to which an order is issued under subparagraph (A) to petition for judicial review of the order shall not be affected by the failure of the depository or agent of depository to apply to the administrator for a hearing on the order pursuant to this subparagraph.

(3) Whenever the administrator issues a cease and desist order under paragraph (1) or (2), the administrator may in the order restrict the right of the depository to withdraw securities from a security pool; and, in that event, both the depository to which the order is directed and the agent of depository which holds the security pool shall comply with the restriction.

(4) In case the administrator issues an order under paragraph (1) or (2) suspending or revoking the authorization of an agent of depository, the administrator may order the agent of depository at its own expense to transfer all pooled securities held by it to such agent of depository as the administrator may designate in the order. The agent of depository designated in the order shall accept and hold the pooled securities in accordance with this article and regulations and orders issued under this article.

(j) In the discretion of the administrator, whenever it appears to the administrator that any person has violated or is violating, or that there is reasonable cause to believe that any person is about to violate, any of the sections specified in subdivision (a) or any regulation or order issued thereunder, the administrator may bring an action in the name of the people of the State of California in the superior court to enjoin the violation or to enforce compliance with those sections or any regulation or order issued thereunder. Upon a proper showing a permanent or preliminary injunction, restraining order, or writ of mandate shall be granted, and the court may not require the administrator to post a bond.

(k) In addition to other remedies, the administrator shall have the power and authority to impose the following sanctions for noncompliance with the sections specified in subdivision (a) after a hearing if requested by the party deemed in noncompliance. Any fine assessed pursuant to this subdivision shall be paid within 30 days after receipt of the assessment.

(1) Assess against and collect from a depository a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for each day the depository fails to maintain with the agent of depository securities as required by Section 53652.

(2) Assess against and collect from a depository a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) for each day beyond the time period specified in subdivision (b) of Section 53663 the depository negligently or willfully fails to file in the office of the administrator a written report required by that section.

(3) Assess against and collect from a depository a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) for each day beyond the time period specified in subdivision (e) that a depository negligently or willfully fails to file in the office of the administrator a written report required by that subdivision.

(4) Assess and collect from an agent of depository a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) for each day the agent of depository fails to comply with any of the applicable sections specified in subdivision (a) or any applicable regulation or order issued thereunder.

(l) (1) In the event that a depository or agent of depository fails to pay a fine assessed by the administrator pursuant to subdivision (k) within 30 days of receipt of the assessment, the administrator may assess and collect an additional penalty of 5 percent of the fine for each month or part thereof that the payment is delinquent.

(2) If a depository fails to pay the fines or penalties assessed by the administrator, the administrator may notify local agency treasurers with deposits in the depository.

(3) If an agent of depository fails to pay the fines or penalties assessed by the administrator, the administrator may notify local agency treasurers who have authorized the agent of depository as provided in Sections 53649 and 53656, and may by order revoke the authorization of the agent of depository as provided in subdivision (i).

(m) The amendments to this section enacted by the Legislature during the 1999-2000 Regular Session shall become operative on January 1, 2001.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 452, Sec. 188. (SB 1498) Effective January 1, 2023.)