1321.55 Records and reports.

(A) Every registrant shall keep records pertaining to loans made under sections 1321.51 to 1321.60 of the Revised Code. Such records shall be segregated from records pertaining to transactions that are not subject to these sections of the Revised Code. Every registrant shall preserve records pertaining to loans made under sections 1321.51 to 1321.60 of the Revised Code for at least two years after making the final entry on such records. Accounting systems maintained in whole or in part by mechanical or electronic data processing methods that provide information equivalent to that otherwise required are acceptable for this purpose. At least once each eighteen-month cycle, the division of financial institutions shall make or cause to be made an examination of records pertaining to loans made under sections 1321.51 to 1321.60 of the Revised Code, for the purpose of determining whether the registrant is complying with these sections and of verifying the registrant’s annual report.

(B)(1) As required by the superintendent of financial institutions, each registrant shall file with the division each year a report under oath or affirmation, on forms supplied by the division, concerning the business and operations for the preceding calendar year. Whenever a registrant operates two or more registered offices or whenever two or more affiliated registrants operate registered offices, then a composite report of the group of registered offices may be filed in lieu of individual reports.

(2) The division shall publish annually an analysis of the information required under division (B)(1) of this section, but the individual reports shall not be public records and shall not be open to public inspection.

(C) All information obtained by the superintendent or the superintendent’s deputies, examiners, assistants, agents, or clerks by reason of their official position, including information obtained by such persons from the annual report of a registrant or in the course of examining a registrant or investigating an applicant for a certificate, is privileged and confidential. All such information shall remain privileged and confidential for all purposes except when it is necessary for the superintendent and the superintendent’s deputies, examiners, assistants, agents, or clerks to take official action regarding the affairs of the registrant or in connection with criminal proceedings. Such information may also be introduced into evidence or disclosed when and in the manner authorized in section 1181.25 of the Revised Code.

(D) No person is in violation of sections 1321.51 to 1321.60 of the Revised Code for any act taken or omission made in reliance on a written notice, interpretation, or examination report from the superintendent.

(E) This section does not prevent the division from releasing to or exchanging with other financial institution regulatory authorities information relating to registrants.

(F) For purposes of this section, “financial institution regulatory authority” includes a regulator of a business activity in which a registrant is engaged, or has applied to engage in, to the extent that the regulator has jurisdiction over a registrant engaged in that business activity. A registrant is engaged in a business activity, and a regulator of that business activity has jurisdiction over the registrant, whether the registrant conducts the activity directly or a subsidiary or affiliate of the registrant conducts the activity.

Effective Date: 06-18-2002