51A-6A-17.   Persons convicted of certain crimes ineligible to serve as board member, officer, or key employee--Civil penalty--Criminal background investigation. Except with the written consent of the director, no person may serve as a board member, officer, or key employee of a trust company who has been convicted of any felony or any crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or a breach of trust. Any trust company who willfully violates this prohibition is subject to a civil penalty of one thousand dollars for each day the violation continues. A civil penalty imposed pursuant to this section for a single violation may not exceed fifty thousand dollars. Any civil penalty imposed by the director under this section is subject to review by the commission in accordance with chapter 1-26.

     As part of any application to obtain authority to transact business as a private trust company, the applicant shall obtain and provide for each proposed incorporator, organizer, board member, manager, officer, and key employee of the proposed company, as applicable, the results of an independent criminal background investigation acceptable to the director, and independent credit report from a consumer reporting agency as described in 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p) as of January 1, 2010, and a report of ongoing or pending litigation.

     As part of any application to obtain authority to transact trust company business as a public trust company, each proposed incorporator, organizer, board member, manager, officer, and key employee, as applicable, shall submit to a state and federal criminal background investigation by means of fingerprint checks by the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon application, the division shall submit completed fingerprint cards to the Division of Criminal Investigation for purposes of conducting both the state and federal criminal background investigation. Upon completion of the criminal background check, the Division of Criminal Investigation shall forward to the division all information obtained as a result of the criminal background investigation. For any person described above who is not a citizen of the United States, the director may conduct an international background investigation or require the applicant or person to obtain and provide the results of an international background investigation acceptable to the director. The applicant shall also obtain and provide the results of an independent credit report from a consumer reporting agency as described in 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p) as of January 1, 2010, and a report of ongoing or pending litigation for each person as described above.

     Prior to beginning employment with any trust company, each potential director, manager, member, officer, or key employee shall undergo the same investigation process as required above for new applicants. For purposes of this section, a key employee does not include an employee whose primary responsibilities are limited to clerical or support duties and officer does not include any person who is not involved in the ongoing policy making or management of the trust company.

     Any trust company shall immediately notify the division of any material change in the background of any person subject to the background investigation process as described above.

     The division may require a fingerprint-based state, federal, and international criminal background investigation, as applicable, for any director, officer, or employee, who is the subject of an investigation by the division. Failure to submit to or cooperate with the criminal background investigation is grounds for the denial of an application or may result in the revocation of a trust company's authority to transact trust company business.

     The applicant or trust company, as the case may be, shall pay any fees or costs associated with the fingerprinting, background investigations, or reports required by this section. A person who has undergone a state, federal, or international background investigation required by this section, may, at the discretion of the director, be allowed to fulfill this requirement for future trust company employment by sworn affidavit stating that there have been no material changes to the person's background.

Source: SL 1995, ch 268, § 15; SL 2010, ch 232, § 19; SL 2012, ch 252, § 16.

---