An Act to Make Changes to the Laws Governing Financial
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 2072
Sponsors: MATHIESON
Amends: 9-A MRSA §6, 9-B MRSA §161, 9-B MRSA §162, 9-B MRSA §252, 9-B MRSA §326, 9-B MRSA §851

Legislative Document
No. 2072
H.P. 1385
House of Representatives, December 17, 2025
An Act to Make Changes to the Laws Governing Financial 
Institutions and to Eliminate Certain Administrative Fees Paid by 
Banks and Credit Unions Under the Maine Consumer Credit Code
Submitted by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation pursuant to Joint 
Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 15, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MATHIESON of Kittery.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  9-A MRSA §6-201, as amended by PL 2005, c. 206, §2, is further amended 
to read:
§6-201.  Applicability
This Part applies to a person engaged in this State in entering into consumer credit 
transactions and to a person having an office or place of business in this State who takes 
assignments of or undertakes direct collection of payments from or enforcement of rights 
against debtors arising from these transactions.  In addition, this Part applies to a person, 
wherever located, who takes assignments of or undertakes direct collection of payments 
from or enforcement of rights against debtors arising from a consumer credit transaction 
subject to this Title.  This Part also applies to a person, other than a supervised financial 
organization, wherever located, who takes assignments of or undertakes direct collection 
of payments from or enforcement of rights against debtors arising from a consumer credit 
transaction subject to Article 9. This Part does not apply to supervised financial 
organizations.
Sec. 2.  9-A MRSA §6-203, sub-§3-A, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 268, §2, is 
repealed.
Sec. 3.  9-A MRSA §6-203, sub-§3-D, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 245, Pt. A, §5, is 
amended to read:
3-D.   Notwithstanding subsection 3‑C, the administrator may by rule adjust the fees 
paid with respect to creditors that are not supervised financial organizations making 
residential mortgage loans to support the costs of compliance and staff attorney positions. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
Sec. 4.  9-A MRSA §6-203, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1997, c. 393, Pt. B, §5 and 
PL 2001, c. 44, §11 and affected by §14 and amended by PL 2007, c. 273, Pt. B, §§5 and 
and affected by c. 695, Pt. A, §47, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  9-B MRSA §161, sub-§1-A, ¶F, as amended by PL 2001, c. 44, §11 and 
affected by §14 and enacted by c. 262, Pt. B, §2 and amended by PL 2007, c. 273, Pt. B, 
§5 and affected by c. 695, Pt. A, §47, is further amended by amending subparagraph (10) 
to read:
(10)  The Office of Securities within the Department of Professional and Financial 
Regulation; and
Sec. 6.  9-B MRSA §161, sub-§1-A, ¶F, as amended by PL 2001, c. 44, §11 and 
affected by §14 and enacted by c. 262, Pt. B, §2 and amended by PL 2007, c. 273, Pt. B, 
§5 and affected by c. 695, Pt. A, §47, is further amended by amending subparagraph (11) 
to read:
(11)  The United States Securities and Exchange Commission.; and
Sec. 7.  9-B MRSA §161, sub-§1-A, ¶F, as amended by PL 2001, c. 44, §11 and 
affected by §14 and enacted by c. 262, Pt. B, §2 and amended by PL 2007, c. 273, Pt. B, 
§5 and affected by c. 695, Pt. A, §47, is further amended by enacting a new subparagraph 
(12) to read:
(12)  The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Sec. 8.  9-B MRSA §161, sub-§1-A, ¶F, as amended by PL 2001, c. 44, §11 and 
affected by §14 and enacted by c. 262, Pt. B, §2 and amended by PL 2007, c. 273, Pt. B, 
§5 and affected by c. 695, Pt. A, §47, is further amended by enacting at the end a new first 
blocked paragraph to read:
"Supervisory agency" includes any successor agency to those listed in this paragraph.
Sec. 9.  9-B MRSA §162, sub-§5-A, as enacted by PL 2025, c. 215, §2, is amended 
to read:
5-A.  Disclosure upon suspicion of financial exploitation.  The financial records are 
disclosed to the Office of the Attorney General or a law enforcement agency pursuant to 
section 245 because a financial institution authorized to do business in this State or its 
affiliate or a credit union authorized to do business in this State or its affiliate has reasonable 
cause to believe that a disbursement requested by an individual 62 65 years of age or older 
or an individual protected under the Adult Protective Services Act may result in financial 
exploitation of that person;
Sec. 10.  9-B MRSA §252, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1997, c. 398, Pt. K, §5, is 
further amended to read:
6.  Decision.  After consideration of all relevant matters presented in the application, 
in any written comments, in an investigation conducted by the bureau to examine and 
evaluate facts related to the application to the extent necessary to make an informed 
decision and at the hearing, if any, the superintendent shall promulgate, in accordance with 
the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, the final order. Within 5 14 days of promulgation, 
notice of the final order setting forth the name of the applicant, the nature of the application 
and the superintendent's action thereon on the application, together with a statement that 
copies of the order are available to the public at cost, must be published by the 
superintendent in those newspapers in which the notice required by subsection 2 was 
published. Unless the superintendent specifies a later date in the final notice relating thereto 
to the application, the effective date of the final order is 30 days after its promulgation. The 
superintendent may waive all or part of the 30-day waiting period following promulgation 
of the final order, if the superintendent determines that extraordinary or unusual conditions 
exist that warrant that action. The superintendent shall set forth in writing the circumstances 
and reasons for waiving all or part of the 30-day waiting period, provided, however, except 
that the superintendent shall, within 60 days of the close of the comment period or within 
days of the conclusion of the hearing if such a hearing was held, whichever period is 
greater, promulgate the final order either approving or disapproving the application.
Sec. 11.  9-B MRSA §326, sub-§1, ¶E, as enacted by PL 1975, c. 500, §1, is 
amended to read:
E.  The compensation of directors, which may include provision for payment of 
medical, surgical and hospital expenses due to accident or illness in the same manner 
as provided for officers and employees, may be fixed by the corporators or members 
at any legal meeting thereof, or, subject to the written approval of the superintendent, 
such may be fixed by the board of directors of the corporators or members.
Sec. 12.  9-B MRSA §851, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2003, c. 322, §36, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Authorization.  A credit union may make, sell, purchase, arrange, participate in, 
invest in and otherwise deal in loans to its members for any purpose in accordance with the 
provisions of this chapter. Subject to the provisions of this chapter, a credit union may 
participate in loans to nonmembers as long as the borrower is a member of at least one 
other participating credit union. Notwithstanding section 855, participation loans may be 
secured by real estate located outside this State.
SUMMARY
This bill extends the deadline by which the Department of Professional and Financial 
Regulation, Bureau of Financial Institutions must publish a notice of a final order in a 
newspaper during the decision-making process on an application for a charter, branch, 
merger, acquisition, conversion, subsidiary formation or other similar request.  
Additionally, the bill eliminates certain administrative fees charged to financial institutions 
based on their volume of consumer loans.  The bill also eliminates the alternative approval 
process that allows the board of directors of a mutual financial institution, subject to written 
approval of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, to fix the rate of the directors' own 
compensation.
The bill provides that when a credit union chartered in this State participates in a loan, 
the borrower must be a member of any one of the participating credit unions and any real 
estate securing the loan need not be located in this State.  The bill aligns the laws that permit 
the disclosure of financial records to the Office of the Attorney General or a law 
enforcement agency when a financial institution or credit union has reasonable cause to 
believe that a disbursement requested by certain individuals may result in financial 
exploitation of an individual with the provisions in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 9-B, 
section 245 by clarifying that the required age of such an individual is 65 years of age or 
older and that individuals protected under the Adult Protective Services Act are included.  
The bill changes the definition of "supervisory agency" for the laws governing confidential 
financial records by adding the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 
providing that any successor agency to an agency listed in the definition is considered to 
be a supervisory agency.