23-563. Registration requirements; confidentiality

A. Every professional employer organization that provides professional employer services in this state shall register with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall maintain a list of all registrants under this section. The secretary of state may prescribe forms necessary for the administration of this section.

B. Every professional employer organization that registers under this section shall provide the secretary of state the following:

1. The name or names under which the professional employer organization conducts business.

2. The address of the principal place of business of the professional employer organization and the address of each office that the professional employer organization maintains in this state.

3. The professional employer organization s taxpayer or employer identification number.

4. A list by state of each name under which the professional employer organization has operated in the preceding five years, including any alternative names, names of predecessors and, if known, names of successor business entities.

5. A statement of ownership that includes the names and business experience of every person who owns or controls twenty-five per cent or more of the equity interest of the professional employer organization.

6. A statement of management that includes the names and business experience of any person who serves as president or chief executive officer of the professional employer organization or any other person who has the authority to act as a senior executive officer of the professional employer organization. The statement under this paragraph shall also include whether any person serving as management has been convicted in the preceding ten years of a felony that has a reasonable relationship to the professional employer organization industry, including crimes involving accounting or tax violations, dishonesty, fraud, misrepresentation, embezzlement, theft, forgery or perjury.

7. A financial statement that sets forth the financial conditions of the professional employer organization, that is prepared with generally accepted accounting principles and that is compiled, reviewed or audited by an independent certified public accountant. The financial statement shall be dated no earlier than one hundred eighty days before the date on which the financial statement is filed with the secretary of state. A professional employer organization may submit compiled, reviewed or audited financial statements.

8. A statement by a certified professional accountant that the applicant is current with obligations that relate to payroll, payroll-related taxes, workers compensation insurance premiums for covered employees and employee benefits for the previous four calendar quarters.

9. A certification that is signed by the chief executive officer of the professional employer organization and that states the submitted financial statement is a true and accurate representation of the financial status of the professional employer organization as of the date the financial statement was prepared.

C. Except for proper administrative purposes, all records, reports, financial statements and other information that is obtained from a professional employer organization under this article by the secretary of state are confidential and are not subject to inspection pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.

D. If the statement provided under subsection B, paragraph 6 indicates that any person serving as management of the professional employer organization has been convicted of a felony, the secretary of state shall deny the application for registration.