BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1525
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 9, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    AB 1525 (Allen) - As Amended:  March 22, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                             Aging and 
          Long-Term CareVote:                           4-1
                       Public Safety                    Vote: 4-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY 

          This bill makes a person or entity engaged in money transmission 
          a mandated reporter of suspected financial abuse of an elder or 
          dependent adult.  Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Adds money transmitters to the list of mandated reporters of 
            suspected elder and dependent adult financial abuse, and 
            subjects money transmitters to the same reporting standards as 
            those that currently apply to employees and officers of 
            banking institutions in California.

          2)Defines "money transmitter" as a person or entity engaged in 
            selling or issuing payment instruments, or in receiving money 
            for transmission.

          3)Makes a money transmitter, and the employer of a money 
            transmitter, subject to civil penalties for failure to report 
            suspected financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Potential minor court costs, if this bill resulted in a small 
          number of new limited civil filings for failure to report 
          suspected financial abuse.  

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . Existing law mandates reporting of suspected elder 
            and dependent adult financial abuse by all officers and 
            employees of certain financial institutions.  The author 








                                                                  AB 1525
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            states by folding money transmitters into this existing 
            financial abuse reporting framework, this bill provides 
            greater protections against financial abuses of vulnerable 
            elders and their families that are desperately needed, 
            especially in such dire economic times.

           2)Opposition . The Money Services Roundtable (TMSRT), which 
            represents non-bank money transmitters such as MoneyGram and 
            Western Union, opposes this bill as unworkable.  They argue 
            they have already instituted fraud protection measures, such 
            as point-of-sale written warnings. They further assert money 
            transmitters do not actually interact with customers and that 
            the retail agents who do interact with customers, such as 
            convenience store clerks, do so one a one-time basis.  
            According to TMSRT, the existing framework that applies to 
            depository institutions is not appropriate because agents lack 
            both training and basic information about the customer that 
            would be necessary to spot financial abuse.
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081