(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all information concerning an investigation or examination conducted by the office pursuant to this chapter, including any customer complaint received by the office or the Department of Financial Services, is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until the investigation or examination ceases to be active. For purposes of this section, an investigation or examination is considered “active” so long as the office or any other administrative, regulatory, or law enforcement agency of any jurisdiction is proceeding with reasonable dispatch and has a reasonable good faith belief that action may be initiated by the office or other administrative, regulatory, or law enforcement agency.

(2) All information obtained by the office in the course of its investigation or examination which is a trade secret, as defined in s. 688.002, or which is personal financial information shall remain confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. If any administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding against a money services business, its authorized vendor, or an affiliated party is initiated and the office seeks to use matter that a licensee believes to be a trade secret or personal financial information, such records shall be subject to an in camera review by the administrative law judge, if the matter is before the Division of Administrative Hearings, or a judge of any court of this state, any other state, or the United States, as appropriate, for the purpose of determining if the matter is a trade secret or is personal financial information. If it is determined that the matter is a trade secret, the matter shall remain confidential. If it is determined that the matter is personal financial information, the matter shall remain confidential unless the administrative law judge or judge determines that, in the interests of justice, the matter should become public.

(3) If an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding against a money services business, its authorized vendor, or an affiliated party results in an acquittal or the dismissal of all of the allegations, upon the request of any party, the administrative law judge or the judge may order all or a portion of the record of the proceeding to be sealed, and it shall thereafter be confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

(4) Except as necessary for the office or any other administrative, regulatory, or law enforcement agency of any jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chapter or the law of any other state or the United States, a consumer complaint and other information concerning an investigation or examination shall remain confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution after the investigation or examination ceases to be active to the extent that disclosure would:

(a) Jeopardize the integrity of another active investigation;

(b) Reveal personal financial information;

(c) Reveal the identity of a confidential source; or

(d) Reveal investigative techniques or procedures.

(5) This section does not prevent or restrict:

(a) Furnishing records or information to any appropriate regulatory, prosecutorial, or law enforcement agency if such agency adheres to the confidentiality provisions of this chapter;

(b) Furnishing records or information to an appropriate regulator or independent third party who has been approved by the office to conduct an examination under s. 560.1091, if the independent third party adheres to the confidentiality provisions of this chapter; or

(c) Reporting any suspicious activity, with supporting documents and information, to appropriate regulatory, law enforcement, or prosecutorial agencies.

(6) All quarterly reports submitted to the office under s. 560.118(2) are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

(7) Any person who willfully discloses information made confidential by this section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 94-281; s. 345, ch. 96-406; s. 254, ch. 96-410; s. 66, ch. 2000-154; s. 1, ch. 2000-293; s. 709, ch. 2003-261; s. 4, ch. 2004-85; s. 21, ch. 2004-335; s. 24, ch. 2008-177.