(a) The Securities Commissioner may:
(1) Enter into an arrangement, agreement, or other working relationship with federal, state, or self-regulatory authorities, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, or a subsidiary of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to file and maintain documents in a multistate automated licensing system or other central depository system;
(2) Waive or modify in whole or in part by rule or by order any requirement of this subchapter if necessary to implement this section; and
(3) Establish new requirements under this subchapter to carry out the purpose of this section.
(b) It is the intent of this section that the commissioner be provided the authority to reduce duplication of filings, reduce administrative costs, and establish uniform procedures, forms, and administration with other states and federal authorities.
(c)
(1) The commissioner may permit or require initial and renewal registration filings required under this subchapter to be filed with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, a subsidiary entity owned by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or another entity maintaining or operating a multistate automated licensing system.
(2) The applicant or the licensee shall pay any fee charged for the applicant or the licensee to participate in the automated licensing system.
(d) The commissioner may accept uniform procedures and forms designed to:
(1) Implement a multistate automated licensing system;
(2) Implement a uniform national mortgage lending regulatory system; or
(3) Facilitate common practices and procedures among the states.
(e)
(1) If the State of Arkansas joins a multistate automated licensing system for mortgage industry participants pursuant to this section, the commissioner may require a criminal background investigation of each applicant seeking to become licensed under this subchapter as a mortgage broker, mortgage banker, mortgage servicer, loan officer, or transitional loan officer.
(2) The criminal background investigation may include a fingerprint examination and may be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Division of Arkansas State Police, or an equivalent state or federal law enforcement department or agency.
(3) The information obtained by the background investigation may be used by the commissioner to determine the applicant's eligibility for licensing under this subchapter.
(4) The fee required to perform the criminal background investigation shall be borne by the license applicant.
(5) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, information obtained or held by the commissioner under this subsection:
(A) May be disclosed when necessary in any proceeding under this subchapter;
(B) May be provided to other state agencies participating in the multistate automatic licensing system;
(C) Shall be considered privileged and confidential; and
(D) Shall not be available for examination except by the affected applicant for licensure or his or her authorized representative, or by the person whose license is subject to sanctions or his or her authorized representative.
(6) No record, file, or document shall be removed from the custody of the Identification Bureau of the Division of Arkansas State Police.
(7) Any information made available to the affected applicant for licensure or to the person whose license is subject to sanctions shall be information pertaining to that person only.
(8) Rights of privilege and confidentiality established in this section shall not extend to any document created for purposes other than the background check.
(9) The commissioner may adopt rules to fully implement the provisions of this section.