8-1120. Administration of act; Director of Banking and Finance; powers and duties; use of information for personal benefit prohibited; Securities Act Cash Fund; created; use; investment; transfers; document filed, when.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Securities Act of Nebraska shall be administered by the Director of Banking and Finance who may employ such deputies, examiners, assistants, or counsel as may be reasonably necessary for the purpose thereof. The employment of any person for the administration of the act is subject to section 49-1499.07. The director may delegate to a deputy director or counsel any powers, authority, and duties imposed upon or granted to the director under the act, such as may be lawfully delegated under the common law or the statutes of this state. The director may also employ special counsel with respect to any investigation conducted by him or her under the act or with respect to any litigation to which the director is a party under the act.

(2) A security issued by and representing an interest in or a debt of, or guaranteed by, any insurance company shall be registered, pursuant to the provisions of sections 8-1104 to 8-1109, with the Director of Insurance who shall as to such registrations administer and enforce the act, and as pertains to the administration and enforcement of such registration of such securities all references in the act to director shall mean the Director of Insurance.

(3)(a) It shall be unlawful for the director or any of his or her employees to use for personal benefit any information which is filed with or obtained by the director and which is not made public. Neither the director nor any of his or her employees shall disclose any confidential information except among themselves, when necessary or appropriate in a proceeding, examination, or investigation under the act, or as authorized in subdivision (3)(b) of this subsection. No provision of the act shall either create or derogate from any privilege which exists at common law or otherwise when documentary or other evidence is sought under a subpoena directed to the director or any of his or her employees.

(b)(i) In administering the act, the director may also:

(A) Enter into agreements or relationships with other government officials, including, but not limited to, the securities administrator of a foreign state and the Securities and Exchange Commission, or self-regulatory organizations, to share resources, standardized or uniform methods or procedures, and documents, records, and information; or

(B) Accept and rely on examination or investigation reports made by other government officials, including, but not limited to, the securities administrator of a foreign state and the Securities and Exchange Commission, or self-regulatory organizations.

(ii) For purposes of this subdivision, foreign state means any state of the United States, other than the State of Nebraska, any territory of the United States, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

(4) The director may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations and prescribe forms to carry out the act. No rule and regulation may be adopted and promulgated or form may be prescribed unless the director finds that the action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors and consistent with the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of the act. In adopting and promulgating rules and regulations and prescribing forms the director may cooperate with the securities administrators of the other states and the Securities and Exchange Commission with a view to effectuating the policy of the Securities Act of Nebraska to achieve maximum uniformity in the form and content of registration statements, applications, and reports wherever practicable. All rules and regulations and forms of the director shall be published and made available to any person upon request.

(5) No provision of the act imposing any liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith in conformity with any rule and regulation, form, or order of the director, notwithstanding that the rule and regulation or form may later be amended or rescinded or be determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.

(6) Every hearing in an administrative proceeding shall be public unless the director in his or her discretion grants a request joined in by all the respondents that the hearing be conducted privately.

(7) The Securities Act Cash Fund is created. All filing fees, registration fees, and all other fees and all money collected by or paid to the director under any of the provisions of the act shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the fund, except that registration fees collected by or paid to the Director of Insurance pursuant to the provisions of the act shall be credited to the Department of Insurance Cash Fund. The Securities Act Cash Fund shall be used for the purpose of administering and enforcing the provisions of the act, except that transfers may be made to the General Fund at the direction of the Legislature. Any money in the Securities Act Cash Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

(8) A document is filed when it is received by the director. The director shall keep a register of all applications for registration and registration statements which are or have ever been effective under the Securities Act of Nebraska and all denial, suspension, or revocation orders which have ever been entered under the act. The register shall be open for public inspection. The information contained in or filed with any registration statement, application, or report may be made available to the public under such conditions as the director may prescribe.

(9) The director may, by rule and regulation or order, authorize or require the filing of any document required to be filed under the act by electronic or other means, processes, or systems.

(10) Upon request and at such reasonable charges as he or she shall prescribe, the director shall furnish to any person photostatic or other copies, certified under his or her seal of office if requested, of any entry in the register or any document which is a matter of public record. In any proceeding or prosecution under the act, any copy so certified shall be prima facie evidence of the contents of the entry or document certified.

(11) The director in his or her discretion may honor requests from interested persons for interpretative opinions.

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