186.9
. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Conducts" includes, but is not limited to, initiating,
concluding, or participating in conducting, initiating, or concluding
a transaction.
(b) "Financial institution" means, when located or doing business
in this state, any national bank or banking association, state bank
or banking association, commercial bank or trust company organized
under the laws of the United States or any state, any private bank,
industrial savings bank, savings bank or thrift institution, savings
and loan association, or building and loan association organized
under the laws of the United States or any state, any insured
institution as defined in Section 401 of the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. Sec. 1724(a)), any credit union organized under the laws of
the United States or any state, any national banking association or
corporation acting under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 601) of
Title 12 of the United States Code, any agency, agent or branch of a
foreign bank, any currency dealer or exchange, any person or business
engaged primarily in the cashing of checks, any person or business
who regularly engages in the issuing, selling, or redeeming of
traveler's checks, money orders, or similar instruments, any broker
or dealer in securities registered or required to be registered with
the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 or with the Commissioner of Corporations under Part 3
(commencing with Section 25200) of Division 1 of Title 4 of the
Corporations Code, any licensed transmitter of funds or other person
or business regularly engaged in transmitting funds to a foreign
nation for others, any investment banker or investment company, any
insurer, any dealer in gold, silver, or platinum bullion or coins,
diamonds, emeralds, rubies, or sapphires, any pawnbroker, any
telegraph company, any person or business regularly engaged in the
delivery, transmittal, or holding of mail or packages, any person or
business that conducts a transaction involving the transfer of title
to any real property, vehicle, vessel, or aircraft, any personal
property broker, any person or business acting as a real property
securities dealer within the meaning of Section 10237 of the Business
and Professions Code, whether licensed to do so or not, any person
or business acting within the meaning and scope of subdivisions (d)
and (e) of Section 10131 and Section 10131.1 of the Business and
Professions Code, whether licensed to do so or not, any person or
business regularly engaged in gaming within the meaning and scope of
Section 330, any person or business regularly engaged in pool selling
or bookmaking within the meaning and scope of Section 337a, any
person or business regularly engaged in horse racing whether licensed
to do so or not under the Business and Professions Code, any person
or business engaged in the operation of a gambling ship within the
meaning and scope of Section 11317, any person or business engaged in
controlled gambling within the meaning and scope of subdivision (e)
of Section 19805 of the Business and Professions Code, whether
registered to do so or not, and any person or business defined as a
"bank," "financial agency," or "financial institution" by Section
5312 of Title 31 of the United States Code or Section 103.11 of Title
31 of the Code of Federal Regulations and any successor provisions
thereto.
(c) "Transaction" includes the deposit, withdrawal, transfer,
bailment, loan, pledge, payment, or exchange of currency, or a
monetary instrument, as defined by subdivision (d), or the
electronic, wire, magnetic, or manual transfer of funds between
accounts by, through, or to, a financial institution as defined by
subdivision (b).
(d) "Monetary instrument" means United States currency and coin;
the currency, coin, and foreign bank drafts of any foreign country;
payment warrants issued by the United States, this state, or any
city, county, or city and county of this state or any other political
subdivision thereof; any bank check, cashier's check, traveler's
check, or money order; any personal check, stock, investment
security, or negotiable instrument in bearer form or otherwise in a
form in which title thereto passes upon delivery; gold, silver, or
platinum bullion or coins; and diamonds, emeralds, rubies, or
sapphires. Except for foreign bank drafts and federal, state, county,
or city warrants, "monetary instrument" does not include personal
checks made payable to the order of a named party which have not been
endorsed or which bear restrictive endorsements, and also does not
include personal checks which have been endorsed by the named party
and deposited by the named party into the named party's account with
a financial institution.
(e) "Criminal activity" means a criminal offense punishable under
the laws of this state by death, imprisonment in the state prison, or
imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 or from a
criminal offense committed in another jurisdiction punishable under
the laws of that jurisdiction by death or imprisonment for a term
exceeding one year.
(f) "Foreign bank draft" means a bank draft or check issued or
made out by a foreign bank, savings and loan, casa de cambio, credit
union, currency dealer or exchanger, check cashing business, money
transmitter, insurance company, investment or private bank, or any
other foreign financial institution that provides similar financial
services, on an account in the name of the foreign bank or foreign
financial institution held at a bank or other financial institution
located in the United States or a territory of the United States.