HB 4713

Abstract

Amends the Derogatory Statements About Banks Act. Changes the short title of the Act to the Derogatory Statements About Financial Institutions Act. Provides that a person shall not, for commercial purposes, use any investment rating or investment rating service as the basis for any statement or inference that the financial institution is in an unsafe or unsound condition, that the federally insured deposits held by the financial institution are vulnerable to loss, or that the owner of the deposits may be subjected to inconvenience with respect to any federally insured deposits. Provides that a person shall not, for commercial purposes, use the name, directly or by inference, of any State or federal regulatory agency or instrumentality as a source of information when making derogatory statements about the condition of one or more financial institutions, unless the person is citing publicly available information published by such regulatory agency or instrumentality. Provides that in addition to any cause of action that a financial institution may have against any person for damages caused by a violation of this Act, the Division of Banking of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation is authorized to issue cease and desist orders against any person who violates the Act and to impose a civil monetary penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of the Act or of such cease and desist order.