§ 19-14.3-1. Exemption from licensing. [Effective January 1, 2020.] No license to engage in the business of currency transmission shall be required of any:

(1) Regulated institution, bank, or credit union organized under the laws of the United States, or subject to written notice with a designated Rhode Island agent for service of process in the form prescribed by the director, or the director's designee, of any other state within the United States if the laws of the other state in which the bank or credit union is organized authorizes under conditions not substantially more restrictive than those imposed by the laws of this state, as determined by the director, or the director's designee, a financial institution or credit union to engage in the business of currency transmission in the other state; no bank or credit union duly organized under the laws of any other state within the United States may receive deposits, pay checks, or lend money from any location within this state unless the bank or credit union has received approval from the director, or the director's designee, for the establishment of an interstate branch office pursuant to chapter 7 of this title;

(2) Natural person employee who is employed by a licensee when acting on the licensee's behalf; or

(3) Agents or authorized delegates any licensee shall designate or appoint. No currency transmission licensee shall be required to obtain a branch office license pursuant to § 19-14-12, or shall be subject to the provisions of § 19-14-24. Agents or authorized delegates, in their capacity as agents of the licensee, are subject to the supervision and regulation by the director notwithstanding exemption from licensure.

(4) This chapter shall not apply to activity by:

(i) The United States, a state, political subdivision of a state, agency or instrumentality of federal, state, or local government, or a foreign government or a subdivision, department, agency or instrumentality of a foreign government;

(ii) A person whose participation in a payment system is limited to providing processing, clearing, or performing settlement services solely for transactions between or among persons who are exempt from the licensing or registration requirements of this chapter;

(iii) A person engaged in the business of dealing in foreign exchange to the extent the person's activity meets the definition in 31 C.F.R. 1010.605(f)(1)(iv), as may be amended from time to time;

(iv) A person who:

(A) Contributes only connectivity software or computing power to support the stability and security of the underlying network;

(B) Provides only data storage or security services for a business engaged in virtual currency business activity and does not otherwise engage in virtual currency business activity on behalf of another person;

(C) Provides only to a person otherwise exempt from this chapter virtual currency as one or more enterprise solutions used solely among each other and has no agreement or relationship with a resident that is an end-user of virtual currency; or

(D) Transmission or communications services providers that provide only the means of transmission or communications;

(v) A person using virtual currency, including creating, investing, buying, or selling, or obtaining virtual currency as payment for the purchase or sale of goods or services, solely:

(A) On its own behalf;

(B) For personal, family, or household purposes; or

(C) For academic purposes;

(vi) An attorney to the extent of providing escrow services to a resident;

(vii) A title insurance company to the extent of providing escrow services to a resident;

(viii) A securities intermediary, as defined in § 6A-8-102, or a commodity intermediary, as defined § 6A-9-102, that:

(A) Does not engage in the ordinary course of business in virtual currency business activity with or on behalf of a resident in addition to maintaining securities accounts or commodities accounts and is regulated as a securities intermediary or commodity intermediary under federal law, the law of this state other than this chapter, or the law of another state; and

(B) Affords resident protections comparable to those set forth in § 19-14.3-3.6;

(ix) A secured party defined in § 6A-9-102(a) or creditor with a judicial lien or lien arising by operation of law on collateral that is virtual currency, if the virtual currency business activity of the creditor is limited to enforcement of the security interest in compliance with chapter 9 of title 6A or a lien in compliance with the law applicable to the lien;

(x) A virtual currency control-services vendor; or

(xi) A person that:

(A) Does not receive compensation from or on behalf of a resident or from sales of data pertaining to a resident for:

(I) Providing virtual currency products or services; or

(II) Conducting virtual currency business activity; or

(B) Is engaged in testing products or services with the person's own funds.

(5) The department may determine that a person or class of persons, given facts particular to the person or class, should be exempt from this chapter, whether the person or class is covered by requirements imposed under federal law on a money-service business.

History of Section. (P.L. 1995, ch. 82, § 55; P.L. 2003, ch. 163, § 4; P.L. 2003, ch. 169, § 4; P.L. 2019, ch. 226, § 3; P.L. 2019, ch. 246, § 3.)