(a) A consent to service of process complying with this section required by this chapter must be signed and filed in the form required by a rule or order under this chapter. A consent appointing the Securities Commissioner the person‘s agent for service of process in a noncriminal action or proceeding against the person, or the person’s successor or personal representative under this chapter or a rule adopted or order issued under this chapter after the consent is filed, has the same force and validity as if the service were made personally on the person filing the consent. A person that has filed a consent complying with this subsection in connection with a previous application for registration or notice filing need not file an additional consent.

(b) If a person, including a nonresident of this State, engages in an act, practice, or course of business prohibited or made actionable by this chapter or a rule adopted or order issued under this chapter and the person has not filed a consent to service of process under subsection (a), the act, practice, or course of business constitutes the appointment of the Securities Commissioner as the person’s agent for service of process in a noncriminal action or proceeding against the person or the person’s successor or personal representative.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 35-1-611

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Agent: means an individual, other than a broker- dealer, who represents a broker-dealer in effecting or attempting to effect purchases or sales of securities, or represents an issuer in effecting or attempting to effect purchases or sales of the issuer's securities. See South Carolina Code 35-1-102
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Filing: means the receipt under this chapter of a record by the Securities Commissioner or a designee of the Securities Commissioner. See South Carolina Code 35-1-102
  • Person: means an individual; corporation; business trust; estate; trust; partnership; limited liability company; association; joint venture; government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; public corporation; or any other legal or commercial entity. See South Carolina Code 35-1-102
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Securities Commissioner: means the Attorney General. See South Carolina Code 35-1-102
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • State: means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See South Carolina Code 35-1-102

(c) Service under subsection (a) or (b) may be made by providing a copy of the process to the office of the Securities Commissioner, but it is not effective unless:

(1) the plaintiff, which may be the Securities Commissioner, promptly sends notice of the service and a copy of the process, return receipt requested, to the defendant or respondent at the address set forth in the consent to service of process or, if a consent to service of process has not been filed, at the last known address, or takes other reasonable steps to give notice; and

(2) the plaintiff files an affidavit of compliance with this subsection in the action or proceeding on or before the return day of the process, if any, or within the time that the court, or the Securities Commissioner in a proceeding before the Securities Commissioner, allows.

(d) Service pursuant to subsection (c) may be used in a proceeding before the Securities Commissioner or by the Securities Commissioner in a civil action in which the Securities Commissioner is the moving party.

(e) If process is served under subsection (c), the court, or the Securities Commissioner in a proceeding before the Securities Commissioner, shall order continuances as are necessary or appropriate to afford the defendant or respondent reasonable opportunity to defend.