Purposes; findings.

The purposes of the Family Trust Company Act are to establish requirements for licensing family trust companies, to regulate persons who provide fiduciary services to family members of no more than two families and their related interests as a family trust company, and to establish the degree of regulatory oversight required of the Office of Financial Regulation over such companies. The public interest served by this chapter is to ensure that fiduciary activities performed by a family trust company are restricted to family members and their related interests and as otherwise provided in this chapter. Therefore, the Legislature finds that:

(1) A family trust company is not a financial institution within the meaning of the financial institutions codes. Licensure of such a company pursuant to chapters 658 and 660 is not required as it would not promote the purposes of the codes specified in s. 655.001.

(2) A family trust company may elect to be a licensed family trust company under this chapter if the company desires to be subject to the regulatory oversight of the office, as provided in this chapter, notwithstanding that the company restricts its services to family members.

(3) With respect to:

(a) A licensed family trust company, the office is responsible for regulating, supervising, and examining the company as provided under this chapter.

(b) A family trust company that does not elect to be licensed and a foreign licensed family trust company, the office’s role is limited to ensuring that fiduciary services provided by the company are restricted to family members and authorized related interests and not to the general public. The office is not responsible for examining a family trust company or a foreign licensed family trust company regarding the safety or soundness of its operations.