Director of Office of Financial Regulation; powers in a state of emergency.

(1) It is the purpose and intent of this section to provide the Director of the Office of Financial Regulation of the Financial Services Commission the authority to make temporary modifications to or suspensions of the financial institutions codes in order to expedite the recovery of communities affected by a disaster or other emergency and in order to encourage financial institutions to meet the credit, deposit, and other financial needs of such communities.

(2)(a) When the Governor declares a state of emergency pursuant to s. 252.36, the Director of the Office of Financial Regulation may issue:

1. One or more general orders applicable to all financial institutions that are subject to the financial institutions codes and that serve any portion of the area of the state under the state of emergency; or

2. One or more specific orders to particular financial institutions that are subject to the financial institution codes and that normally derive more than 60 percent of their deposits from persons in the area of the state under the state of emergency,

which orders may modify or suspend, as to those institutions, all or any part of the financial institutions codes, as defined in s. 655.005, or any applicable rule, consistent with the stated purposes of the financial institutions codes and with maintaining the safety and soundness of the financial institutions system in this state.

(b) An order issued by the director under this section becomes effective upon issuance and continues for 120 days unless it is terminated by the director. The director may extend an order for one additional period of 120 days if he or she determines that the emergency conditions that gave rise to the initial order still exist. The Legislature, by concurrent resolution, may terminate any order issued under this section.

(3) The director shall publish, in the next available publication of the Florida Administrative Register, a copy of the text of any order issued under this section, together with a statement describing the modification or suspension and explaining how the modification or suspension will facilitate recovery from the emergency and maintain the safety and soundness of financial institutions in this state.