Reference is to Printer's Date 3/9/17-S.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by inserting an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/ SECTION 1. Section 38-43-100 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 194 of 2016, is further amended to read:
"Section 38-43-100.
(A) Business may not be done by the
applicant except following issuance of a producer's license, and
the license may not be issued until the director or his designee
has determined that the applicant is qualified as an insurance
producer, generally, and is particularly qualified for the line
of business in which the applicant proposes to engage. The
department shall promulgate regulations setting forth qualifying
standards of producers as to all lines of business and shall
require the producer applicant to stand a written examination.
For the purpose of interstate reciprocity, the department shall
identify by bulletin which limited lines insurance are approved
in South Carolina and which are exempt from examination. A bank,
finance company, or other company handling credit transactions
operating in this State and utilizing one or more credit life or
accident and health or credit property producers in a particular
geographical area who are licensed without having taken the
written examination is required to have readily available at
least one credit life or accident and health or credit property
producer to answer customers' questions concerning credit life,
credit accident and health insurance, or credit property, or any
combination of these.
(B) A resident
individual applying for an insurance producer license shall pass
an examination. The examination must test the knowledge of the
individual concerning the lines of authority for which
application is made, the duties and responsibilities of an
insurance producer, and the insurance laws and regulations of
this State. The examination required by this section must be
developed and conducted under regulations prescribed by the
director or his designee.
(C) The director or his
designee may make arrangements, including contracting with an
outside testing service, for administering licensing
examinations.
(D) Each individual
applying for a licensing examination shall remit a nonrefundable
examination fee as required by the licensing exam
administrator.
(E) An individual who
fails to appear for the examination as scheduled or fails to
pass the examination, shall reapply for an examination and remit
all required fees and forms before being rescheduled for another
examination.
(F) A person applying
for a resident insurance producer license or a person applying
on behalf of the applicant shall make application to the
director or his designee on the Uniform Application and declare
under penalty of refusal, suspension, or revocation of the
license that the statements made in the application are true,
correct, and complete to the best of the applicant's knowledge
and belief. Before approving the application, the director or
his designee shall find that the applicant:
(1)
is at least eighteen years of age;
(2)
is a person of good moral character and has not been
convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude
within the last ten years that is a ground for denial,
suspension, or revocation as provided for in Section
38-43-130;
(3)
has paid the fees provided for in Section 38-43-80;
and
(4)
has successfully passed the examination or examinations
for the line or lines of insurance for which the person has
applied.
(5)
Effective January 1, 2017, Before a
license is issued to an applicant or is renewed permitting him
to act as a resident producer, the applicant shall comply with
the licensing and renewal requirements set for in this section
and by regulation. In addition to those licensing requirements,
the applicant shall:
(a)
furnish a complete set of his fingerprints to the director
or his designee; and
(b)
undergo a state criminal records check, supported by his
fingerprints, by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
(SLED) and a national criminal records check, supported by his
fingerprints, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The
results of these criminal records checks must be reported to the
department. SLED and the FBI are authorized to retain the
fingerprints for use in identification purposes including, but
not limited to, unsolved latent prints. SLED and the FBI are
further authorized to provide the department with current and
future information regarding fingerprints stored including
arrest, convictions, dispositions, warrants, and other
information available to the FBI including civil and criminal
information. The department shall keep all information pursuant
to this section privileged, in accordance with applicable state
and federal guidelines. The cost associated with the
criminal history records checks must be borne by the applicant.
The applicant's fingerprints must be certified by a law
enforcement officer authorized by SLED.;
and
(c)
provide a complete set of fingerprints and the
required fees and information in accordance with this
subsection. Failure to provide the complete set of fingerprints
with the required fees constitutes grounds for denial of an
application for licensure; however, the director may waive the
fingerprinting requirements of this subsection if it is
impossible for the applicant to provide fingerprints due to a
medically certified physical injury.
(G)(1) An
applicant for renewal of a current resident insurance producer
license is exempt from the requirement set forth in subsection
(F)(5) if the applicant complies with the requirements of this
section and
(a)
has previously provided and has on file with the
appropriate agency of the State an accessible, current, complete
and legible set of fingerprints submitted as part of an earlier
application for a license or for renewal of a license which was
granted or approved; and
(b)
all licenses issued to the applicant by the
department are in good standing on the date of the subsequent
application.
(2)
A resident producer who has allowed the license
to lapse for failure to comply with the continuing education
requirements set forth in Section 38-43-106 is not required to
submit new fingerprint records if the applicant:
(a)
has applied to reinstate the same license within
six months from the compliance deadline;
(b)
has met the continuing insurance education
requirements; and
(c)
has paid a penalty fee set forth by the director
or his designee in full.
(3)
The director may require a complete set of
fingerprints and payment of all applicable fingerprint
processing fees from an applicant for licensure or renewal if
the previously submitted set of fingerprints is not usable for
obtaining a criminal history record check for any reason.
(G)(H)
The individual's producer license must contain the
licensee's name, address, personal identification number, the
date of issuance, the line or lines of authority, and other
information the director or his designee considers
necessary.
(H)(I)
An agency acting as an insurance producer is
required to obtain an insurance producer license. Application
must be made using the Uniform Business Entity Application.
Before approving the application, the director or his designee
shall find that:
(1)
the agency has paid the fees as prescribed by Section
38-43-80; and
(2)
the agency has designated a licensed producer or other
person responsible for the business entity's compliance with the
insurance laws, rules, and regulations of this State.
(I)(J)
The director or his designee may require any
documents reasonably necessary to verify the information
contained in an application.
(J)(K)
The agency's license must contain the licensee's
name, address, personal identification number, the date of
issuance, and other information the director or his designee
considers necessary.
(K)(L)
Each insurer that sells, solicits, or negotiates
any form of credit insurance shall provide to each individual
whose duties include selling, soliciting, or negotiating credit
insurance, a program of instruction that has been filed with the
director or his designee."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.