A. Any individual in control of a licensee or applicant, any individual that seeks to acquire control of a licensee, and each key individual shall furnish to the Commission through NMLS the following items:
1. The individual’s fingerprints for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of a national criminal history background check unless the person currently resides outside of the United States and has resided outside of the United States for the last 10 years.
2. Personal history and experience in a form and in a medium prescribed by the Commission, including (i) information enabling the Commission to obtain an independent credit report from a consumer reporting agency unless the individual does not have a social security number, in which case this requirement shall be waived; (ii) information related to any criminal convictions or pending charges; and (iii) information related to any regulatory or administrative action and any civil litigation involving claims of fraud, misrepresentation, conversion, mismanagement of funds, breach of fiduciary duty, or breach of contract.
B. If an individual referenced in subsection A has resided outside of the United States at any time in the last 10 years, the individual shall also cause an investigative background report to be prepared by an independent search firm. The individual shall pay for the cost of such report, and the report shall be sent directly by the search firm to the Commission. At a minimum, the search firm shall (i) demonstrate that it has sufficient knowledge and resources and employs accepted and reasonable methodologies to conduct the research of the background report and (ii) not be affiliated with or have an interest with the individual it is researching. At a minimum, the investigative background report shall be written in the English language and shall contain the following: (a) if available in the individual’s current jurisdiction of residency, a comprehensive credit report, or any equivalent information obtained or generated by the independent search firm to accomplish such report, including a search of the court data in the countries, provinces, states, cities, towns, and other areas where the individual resided and worked; (b) criminal records information for the past 10 years, including felonies, misdemeanors, or similar convictions for violations of law in the countries, provinces, states, cities, towns, and other areas where the individual resided and worked; (c) employment history; (d) media history, including an electronic search of national and local publications, wire services, and business applications; and (e) financial services-related regulatory history, including money transmission, securities, banking, insurance, and mortgage-related industries.