The Department of Business Oversight is more than a securities regulator. When I headed the Department of Corporations, it was also a health care regulator - administering and enforcing California's Knox-Keene Health Care...more
California prohibits any person (unless exempt) from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license from the Commissioner of Business Oversight. Cal. Fin. Code § 22100(a). This applies to...more
Six years ago, I wrote about the enactment of legislation, AB 2364 (Wagner) intended to make it easier to levy on bank accounts. The law requires a bank or financial institution with more than nine branch offices within...more
Fourteen years ago, Congress enacted legislation intended to protect consumers and investors from settlements in which plaintiffs' attorneys pulled in large fees while their clients (the class members) received little. In one...more
Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced the appointment of Commissioner Jan Owen's successor at the Department of Business Oversight...more
The California Commissioner of Business Oversight is require to prepare an annual report summarizing the data collected from issuers that were granted permits to offer and sell securities pursuant to Corporations Code §...more
The California Financing Law enjoins anyone from engaging in the business of a finance broker without a license from the Commissioner of Business Oversight. Cal. Fin. Code § 22100(a). The CFL, however, defines "broker" in a...more
The California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders Law) prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of a finance lender without obtaining a license from the California Commissioner of Business Oversight (unless exempt). ...more
The 2014 Budget Act requires the Department of Business Oversight to provide a report on its broker-dealer/investment adviser program to the the Legislature and the Department of Finance by January 10 of each year. While not...more
This September, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1235 (Stats. 2018, Ch. 1011) into law. In a nutshell, SB 1235 adds a new division to the Financial Code imposing specific loan disclosure requirements on providers of commercial...more
In February, I noted the introduction of a bill that would require any person engaged in the business of commercial financing to provide specified disclosures to prospective borrowers. On September 30, Governor Brown signed...more
As in the federal system, gubernatorial appointees to many California state agencies and departments are subject to confirmation by the Senate. Cal. Gov't Code § 1322. There are, however, a number of important differences...more
Way back in February, I wrote about a bill, SB 1235, that would impose specific disclosure requirements on persons engaged in the business of commercial financing. In the ensuing months, the bill was amended eight times,...more
For U.S. Supreme Court followers, a hot topic is whether the Court will continue to apply "Chevron deference". Under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984), a court will uphold an...more
Section 22303 of the California Financial Code establishes the maximum interest rates applicable to loans less than $2,500. The preceding section incorporates by reference the general Civil Code provision about contract...more
Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Act provides an exemption from Securities Act registration for offers and sales of securities in specified exchange transactions. There are several conditions to the exemption, including...more
California's default lender licensing law is the California Financing Law, a law which had until recently been known as the California Finance Lenders Law. The CFL generally prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of...more
Last Friday's post was inspired by a recent article written by Daniel Sanches entitled"Bitcoin vs. the Buck: Is Currency Competition a Good Thing?" Economic Insights (Vol. 3, Issue 2, p. 9) in which he observes...more
Article I, Section 16 of the California Constitution "Trial by jury is an inviolate right and shall be secured to all. . . ." The right may be "inviolate" but it does have limits. Thus, it is limited to the right as it...more
The California Department of Business Oversight administers and enforces the California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders Law). Visitors to the DBO's website will find a basic description of the CFL, including the following...more
The Department of Business Oversight recently published a warning to beware of "phishing" schemes. The DBO points out that it sends its Monthly Bulletins and other time-sensitive communications through its list host,...more
Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the launch of a new online tool for investors. The SEC describes this tool as follows...more
Richard Cordray's resignation last fall as head of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may result in more stringent regulation of California Finance Lenders. In February, Assemblymember Monique Limón introduced...more
In 2011, the Department of Business Oversight filed a civil action against Investco Management & Development LLC and its promoters alleging various violations of the securities laws in connection with the offer and sale of...more
On January 10, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown issued his proposed budget for California's 2018/2019 fiscal year. The proposed budget detail is available here. The Governor is proposing a modest increase (about 3%) in the total...more