Who needs to register?
Under Louisiana statute, businesses who engage in the sale or issuance of payment instruments or receiving money or monetary value for transmission to a location within our outside the U.S. by any means, including wire, facsimile, or electronic transfer, are require a money transmitter license. This includes those businesses providing third-party bill paying services.
Who is the regulator?
Louisiana State Office of Financial Institutions
What are the money transmitter license requirements?
In Louisiana, registering as a money transmitter requires the following fees and documentation:
- $300 investigation fee + $25 per location, amounting to no more than $3,000
- $300 annual license fee
- $45.25 for each individual submitting fingerprint cards
- Agent for Service of Process and Acknowledgement; application contact person; compliance person; consumer complaint person
- Business plan with 3 year financial pro forma, anticipated volume of money transmitted for one calendar year, anticipated number of selling/transmitting locations, and reflecting permissible investments
- $100,000 net worth
- 3 years of financial statements certified as correct by owner, principal, officer, or director
- FinCEN registration and confirmation of registration received from IRS Detroit Computing Center
- List of agents and locations in Louisiana where proposed business will take place
- Identifying information, including website and/or email address
- Copies of Certificate of Authority, Articles of Incorporation/Organization, Partnership Agreement and bylaws
- State of registration and date of incorporation
- Authorization to do business in Louisiana
- Identifying information and percent ownership of each director, manager, member, partner, and 10% equity holders; authorization to disclose criminal history records and fingerprint cards with Social Security Number and date of birth
- Applicant’s parent company information and organizational chart
- List of states in which business performs MSB and the license date
- Civil and criminal proceedings involving theft, fraud, dishonest dealings, and/or moral turpitude
- Bankruptcy or receivership proceedings
- Denials or revocations of licenses
- Administrative and enforcement actions
- Certificate of Resolution stating who can sign documents
- Biographies of all critical persons, including 10 year employment history, residences over last 10 years, and criminal, civil, financial, administrative, or enforcement history
- Certificate of good standing in state of incorporation
- Must maintain, for five years: 1) Name, address, and services provided of agent; 2) Gross transaction amount and a listing of whenever an agent’s transactions exceeds $100,000; 3) Name and address of depository institution; 4) Statement of anticipated costs and proceeds (fees imposed will generate approximately $33,7000)
What are the general bonding requirements?
Bonding requirements vary depending on whether the money transmitter is a new licensee or renewing a license.
New licensee must have at least a $25,000 bond, but the Commissioner has discretion to add to that amount.
Renewals must provide a bond amounting to one-half of the outstanding checks, or one percent of annual volume of money transmitted rounded to the nearest thousand, as shown on the licensee’s annual report. The amount may not be less than $25,000 and may not exceed $500,000. The Commissioner may increase the amount to $1,000,000.