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ACT No. 8912026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 1256 (Substitute for House Bill No. 947 by Representative Mena)
BY REPRESENTATIVE MENA
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 9:154(A)(19) and (E), 159(E), and 160(D), and to enact R.S.
3 9:153(13)(j) and (17) through (22), 154(A)(20) and (F), 160.1 through 160.5, and
4 164(F), relative to digital assets; to provide for definitions; to establish standards for
5 the custody of unclaimed digital assets presumed abandoned; to provide for a
6 presumption for digital assets; to provide for the delivery of abandoned digital assets
7 to the administrator's custody; to provide for the maintenance of abandoned digital
8 assets by the holder; to provide for the sale or liquidation of abandoned digital assets
9 by the holder, administrator, or third-party contracted by the administrator; to require
10 annual reports by the administrator; to provide for the discontinuance of reports by
11 the administrator; and to provide for an effective date; to authorize the law institute
12 to make changes; and to provide for related matters.
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
14 Section 1. R.S. 9:154(A)(19) and (E), 159(E), and 160(D) are hereby amended and
15 reenacted and R.S. 9:153(13)(j) and (17) through (22), 154(A)(20) and (F), 160.1 through
16 160.5, and 164(F) are hereby enacted to read as follows:
17 §153. Definitions
18 As used in this Chapter:
19 * * *
20 (13) "Property" means a fixed and certain interest in intangible property that
21 is held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business, or by a government or
22 governmental entity, and all income or increments therefrom. The term includes
23 property that is referred to as or evidenced by the following:
24 * * *
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1 (j) Digital assets.
2 * * *
3 (17) "Designated custodian" means a banking organization or a business
4 association that, on behalf of the administrator, receives and maintains securities or
5 digital assets from holders pending transfer to claimants or liquidation.
6 (18)(a) "Digital asset" means any of the following that are held in a digital
7 asset account:
8 (i) Virtual currency.
9 (ii) Cryptocurrency.
10 (iii) Natively electronic assets, including stablecoins or non-fungible tokens.
11 (iv) Any other digital-only asset that confers economic, proprietary, or
12 access rights or powers.
13 (b) "Digital asset" does not include any of the following:
14 (i) A security.
15 (ii) Game-related digital content.
16 (iii) A gift card.
17 (iv) A loyalty card.
18 (19) "Digital asset account" means a customer account, a digital asset wallet,
19 or other repository device maintained by an owner with a digital asset holder that
20 may contain one or more types of digital assets, money, or other property.
21 (20) "Digital asset holder" means a holder that establishes or maintains a
22 digital asset account for an owner.
23 (21) "Digital asset wallet" means a software application or other mechanism
24 that provides a means to hold, store, or transfer a digital asset.
25 (22) "Private key" means a unique element of cryptographic data used to sign
26 and authorize a transfer of a digital asset.
27 §154. Presumptions of abandonment
28 A. Property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner
29 during the time set forth below for the particular property for the following:
30 * * *
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1 (19) A digital asset account, after three years if the owner has not shown any
2 activity or interest. If the digital asset holder sends first class mail through the United
3 States Postal Service to the owner and the mail is returned as undeliverable, the
4 account is presumed abandoned three years after the mail is returned.
5 (20) All other property, five years after the obligation to pay or distribute the
6 property arises.
7 * * *
8 E.(1) Notwithstanding Subsection D of this Section, an indication of an
9 owner's interest in a digital asset or digital asset account includes any of the
10 following actions by the owner:
11 (a) Conducting a transaction involving the digital asset account, including
12 buying or selling digital assets, or depositing into or withdrawing from the account
13 fiat currency or other property, whether by a one-time transaction or a recurring
14 transaction previously authorized by the owner.
15 (b) Accessing the digital asset account electronically.
16 (c) Conducting any activity with respect to another digital asset account or
17 any other property owned by that owner and held by that same digital asset holder.
18 (d) Any other action taken by an owner that reasonably demonstrates to the
19 digital asset holder that the owner is aware of the existence of the property.
20 (2) Failure of an owner to respond to a communication from a digital asset
21 holder does not constitute an indication of the interest of an owner.
22 F. Property shall be payable or distributable for purposes of this Chapter
23 notwithstanding the owner's failure to make demand or present an instrument or
24 document otherwise required to obtain payment.
25 * * *
26 §159. Report of abandoned property
27 * * *
28 E.(1) The holder of property presumed abandoned shall send written notice
29 to the apparent owner not more than one hundred twenty days nor less than sixty
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1 days before filing the report required by this Section, stating that the holder is in
2 possession of property subject to this Chapter if each of the following applies:
3 (1)(a) The holder has in its records an address for the apparent owner that the
4 holder's records do not disclose to be inaccurate.
5 (2)(b) The claim of the apparent owner is not barred by the statute of
6 limitations.
7 (3)(c) The value of the property is fifty dollars or more.
8 (2) If the property is a digital asset, the notice required by Paragraph (1) of
9 this Subsection shall inform the apparent owner that the property may be liquidated
10 if the apparent owner does not provide a timely response to the holder.
11 * * *
12 §160. Payment or delivery of abandoned property
13 * * *
14 D. An issuer, the holder, and any transfer agent or other person acting on
15 behalf of the issuer or holder pursuant to them in accordance with this Section, R.S.
16 9:160.1, 160.2, 160.3, or 160.4 is not liable to the apparent owner and shall be
17 indemnified against claims of any person in accordance with R.S. 9:162.
18 §160.1. Digital assets; liquidation order or directive; before report required by R.S.
19 9:159
20 A.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 9:160, the administrator may
21 direct or order a digital asset holder to liquidate a digital asset before the date on
22 which the filing of a report required by R.S. 9:159 for the digital asset is due.
23 (2) Any order or directive issued pursuant to this Subsection shall be
24 accompanied by the summary required pursuant to R.S. 9:160.4.
25 B. If a digital asset holder receives an order or directive pursuant to
26 Subsection A of this Section and reasonably believes the digital asset cannot be
27 liquidated, or the digital asset holder cannot cause the digital asset to be liquidated,
28 the digital asset holder shall promptly provide the administrator with written notice
29 stating the reasons why.
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1 C. Upon receiving notice pursuant to Subsection B of this Section, the
2 administrator shall direct the digital asset holder concerning an alternative
3 disposition of the digital asset.
4 §160.2. Payment or delivery of abandoned digital asset; after receipt of report
5 required by R.S. 9:159
6 A.(1) If property reported to the administrator is a digital asset, and the
7 digital asset holder has the ability to transfer the digital asset, the digital asset holder
8 shall transfer that digital asset, or the control necessary to transfer that digital asset,
9 to the administrator within thirty days from the date on which that digital asset is
10 reported.
11 (2) A digital asset holder who delivers a digital asset pursuant to Paragraph
12 (1) of this Subsection shall provide the administrator, upon request, with a record
13 evidencing delivery to the administrator's designated custodian.
14 (3) Within thirty days after the date on which the digital asset holder delivers
15 a digital asset pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the digital asset holder
16 shall provide the administrator with a reconciliation of the delivered digital asset
17 with respect to the report filed regarding the digital asset.
18 B. Notwithstanding Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section, if the administrator
19 determines a reported digital asset cannot be accepted due to any factor or factors in
20 R.S. 9:160.4, it may direct or order the digital asset holder to sell or otherwise
21 liquidate the digital asset and deliver the net proceeds to the administrator.
22 C. A digital asset holder is not required to deliver a digital asset in
23 accordance with Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section if the digital asset holder does not
24 have the private key or other authority that is necessary to transfer the digital asset.
25 Instead, the digital asset holder described in this Paragraph shall do all the following:
26 (1) Report the digital asset in accordance with R.S. 9:159.
27 (2) Maintain the digital asset until the digital asset holder obtains the ability
28 to transfer the digital asset.
29 (3) Determine no less than annually as to whether the digital asset holder has
30 obtained the ability to transfer the digital asset.
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1 (4) After obtaining the ability to transfer the digital asset, deliver the digital
2 asset to the administrator at the next reporting cycle.
3 D. Between receipt of a digital asset in its native form and when R.S.
4 9:160.3(A) is applicable, no digital asset delivered to the administrator in its native
5 form shall be liquidated except when either of the following occurs:
6 (1) A request is received by a claimant pursuant to R.S. 9:160.3(B).
7 (2)(a) The digital asset cannot reasonably be maintained in custody by the
8 administrator due to technological, security, or regulatory limitations.
9 (b) The cost of custody, administration, or security of the digital asset
10 exceeds the value of the digital asset.
11 §160.3. Disposal of digital assets; liquidation; recovery of value
12 A. The administrator shall not sell or liquidate a digital asset until three years
13 after the digital asset is received by the administrator.
14 B. Upon approval of a claim, the claimant may request the administrator to
15 dispose of a digital asset by sale or liquidation and remit the net proceeds to the
16 claimant.
17 §160.4. Administrator to provide an order or directive to liquidate digital assets
18 A. Any order or directive issued by the administrator to require a holder of
19 a digital asset to sell or liquidate shall be based upon at least one of the following:
20 (1) The ability of the administrator to manage digital assets in their native
21 form at the time the report is received.
22 (2) Whether the reporting file format supports the receipt of digital assets in
23 their native form.
24 (3) Whether the database management system of the administrator supports
25 digital assets in their native form.
26 (4) Whether the costs of custody and administration of the reported digital
27 assets in native form would exceed the value of the reported digital assets.
28 B. Any order or directive issued by the administrator to a digital asset holder
29 to liquidate or sell a digital asset shall include a summary of the factor or factors in
30 Subsection A of this Section that led to the order or directive.
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1 C. The administrator shall not order or direct a holder to deliver the
2 liquidated value of a digital asset presumed abandoned solely on the basis that the
3 administrator does not have a designated custodian in place or a designated custodian
4 is not yet operational.
5 §160.5. General provisions applying to digital assets
6 Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all of the following shall apply:
7 (1) The delivery of a digital asset or its liquidated value to the administrator's
8 designated custodian constitutes payment or delivery for purposes of this Chapter.
9 (2) A digital asset listed on an established exchange may not be sold or
10 liquidated pursuant to any authority in this Chapter for less than the price prevailing
11 on the exchange at the time of sale.
12 (3) The sale or liquidation of a digital asset not listed on an established
13 exchange that is sold or liquidated pursuant to any authority in this Chapter may be
14 by any commercially reasonable method, and the price received shall be considered
15 the prevailing price for valuation purposes.
16 (4) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the administrator,
17 designated custodian of the administrator, or digital asset holder shall not be held
18 liable for any loss or gain that may or would have been obtained had a digital asset
19 been held and transferred in its native form or sold or liquidated pursuant to any
20 authority in this Chapter.
21 (5) The administrator may decline to offer a digital asset for sale if the
22 administrator considers that the probable cost of sale will exceed the proceeds of that
23 sale.
24 (6) A purchaser of a digital asset at a sale conducted by the administrator
25 pursuant to this Chapter takes that digital asset free of any claim of the owner or
26 previous holder and of any person claiming through or under the owner or previous
27 holder.
28 (7) The administrator shall execute all documents and take all actions
29 necessary to complete the transfer of ownership of a digital asset.
30 * * *
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1 §164. Public sale of abandoned property
2 * * *
3 F. The provisions of this Section do not apply to digital assets.
4 Section 2. The treasurer shall include information regarding the implementation of
5 this Act in his annual report required by Article IV, Section 9 of the Constitution of
6 Louisiana.
7 Section 3. If the treasurer contracts with a designated custodian to carry out the
8 provisions of this Act, then the treasurer shall notify the legislature in writing within thirty
9 days of the execution of that contract.
10 Section 4. The Louisiana State Law Institute is hereby authorized and directed to
11 correct any cross-references to any renumbered paragraphs, if necessary, consistent with the
12 provisions of this Act.
13 Section 5. (A) This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2027.
14 (B) Section 2 of this Act shall become null and void and cease to be effective when
15 the treasurer makes the report required by Section 3 of this Act.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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