THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
This initiative statute shall be known and may be cited as the "Retirement savings and Consumer Protection Act"
SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS
The People of the State of California find and declare as follows:
(a) Millions of Californians work hard, pay their taxes, and save their money in order to provide for their economic security upon retirement. La doing so, they help support their state and local governments as taxpayers and insure that they do not become responsibilities of the state once they leave the workforce.
(b) Many Californians are members of or have contributed to private and public pension and retirement funds that invest in securities of corporations that are publicly traded or sold and other for-profit business entities. Many others invest their retirement savings themselves in such securities.
(c) Financial disasters like the collapse of many savings and loan institutions or the bankruptcy of Orange County result in devastating harm to the pensions and retirement savings of working people.
(d) Full and complete disclosure of material information affecting the value of securities is necessary to protect the millions of Californians who invest in them for their retirement. Existing laws inadequately protect pension and retirement investments in these securities from losses resulting from deceptive activities, including the misrepresentation and/or concealment of material information affecting the true value of these securities.
(e) An individual's retirement savings can also be threatened by an unexpected accident or injury. Unless victims of such accidents or injuries are able to obtain full compensation for their losses, they are often forced to use up their retirement savings to pay for medical bills or living expenses after their injury.
(f) Consumers, pension investors, and victims of injuries need access to the civil justice system to insure that they are fully compensated for their losses and damages. Ordinary working people are often denied such access because they cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent them. Proposals are being put forward daily that would limit people's right to contract with the attorney of their choice and make it more difficult for all but the very wealthy to obtain legal representation. These proposals include, but are not limited to, efforts to make it harder for people to find representation to protect their retirement savings and investments.
(g) In order to protect the retirement savings of all Californians, it is necessary to require full disclosure of material information that affects the value of securities or individual savings and to insure that the right to contract with an attorney to obtain compensation for injury or loss shall not be impaired, or subject to interference by the government
Section 25400.1 is added to the Corporations Code, to read:
25400.1. It shall be unlawful, in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, for any person, for-profit corporation or other for-profit business entity, directly or indirectly, to willfully, knowingly or recklessly:
(a) make or cause to be made untrue statements of material facts,
(b) omit to state material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading or
(c) participate or assist in any deceptive practice, statement, course of conduct or scheme,
resulting in loss to any pension fund, retirement fund, or retirement savings. This Section shall not apply to any government entity or to any government official acting in his or her official capacity.
Section 25500.1 is added to the Corporations Code, to read:
25500.1(a) In addition to any other provision of law, any person, for-profit corporation or other for-profit business entity that willfully, knowingly or recklessly engages in conduct prohibited by Section 25400.1 shall be liable for the losses caused by that violation, as determined in an action brought in a court of competent jurisdiction by or on behalf of any person or entity, including any government entity, whose pension funds and/or retirement funds or savings have suffered a loss as a result of that violation.
(b) To remedy harm to the public and to deter willful, outrageous or despicable conduct in violation of Section 25400.1 that causes loss to pension funds, retirement funds or retirement savings, any person who engages in such conduct shall be liable for additional civil damages in such amount as the finder of fact shall determine is necessary to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct by others, which civil penalty shall be paid, less fees and expenses, to the General Fund of the Treasury of the State of California.
(c) Any action under this Section or under Civil Code Sections 1709 or 1710 in connection with the purchase or sale of securities may be brought as a class action; the fraud on the market doctrine shall apply, and it shall be presumed that the market value of a security reflected the impact of any prohibited conduct, and reliance upon any material misrepresentation or omission shall be presumed, subject to rebuttal by defendant establishing that the security would have been purchased or sold even if plaintiff had known of the misconduct Any action under this Section may also be brought derivatively, without regard to any limitations or requirements currently imposed on derivative actions.
(d) For purposes of this Section and Section 25400.1, "retirement savings" means and includes:
(1) any tax advantaged retirement account or plan, whether group, individual or joint, or
(2) any other form of retirement savings, however denominated and in whatever form, of a person over 40 years of age, if it had been in existence for over one year or had a value of $1,000 or more before suffering any loss sought to be recovered under this Title.
(e) Except as otherwise provided by law in effect on January 1, 1995:
(1) In any individual, class or derivative action brought pursuant to this or any other section of the Corporations Code, including Section 800, or under Civil code Sections 1709 or 1710, each party shall bear his, her, or its own fees and costs, provided, however, that:
(A) the power of the parties to agree to, or a court to award, fees and costs for plaintiffs' counsel in any class or derivative action shall not be restricted or impaired, and
(B) a party shall be entitled to recover his, her, or its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in the defense or prosecution of the action in the event the Court finds that the opposing party's claims or defenses were frivolous.
(2) For purposes of this Section, a frivolous claim or defense is one that is either (A) totally and completely without merit, or (B) filed for the sole purpose of harassing an opposing party.
(3) The right of any person, corporation or other entity to contract with and pay counsel to pursue or defend any action, whether brought under this Section or otherwise, shall not be restricted of the validity of such contracts be impaired
Nothing in this Section shall impair the authority of the courts to regulate the practice of law or to prohibit illegal or unconscionable fees.
Section 6146.6 of the Business and Professions Code is added, to read:
6146.6. Except as otherwise provided by law in effect on January 1, 1995, the right of any person, corporation or other entity to contract with and pay counsel to pursue or defend any action shall not be restricted or the validity of such contracts be impaired. Nothing in this Section shall impair the authority of the courts to regulate the practice of law or to prohibit illegal or unconscionable fees.
Section 25505.1 is added to the Corporations Code, to read:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any principal executive officer, director, or controlling person of a corporation or other for-profit business entity who is found individually liable for knowingly or recklessly engaging in deceptive conduct, as prohibited by Section 25400.1 shall not be indemnified by the corporation or other for-profit business entity for any costs of defense or amounts paid in settlement or judgment against that person. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a corporation or other for-profit business entity from purchasing insurance on behalf its directors, officers, employees or agents to cover liability under this Section.
SECTION 7. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER INITIATIVES
The people recognize that more than one initiative measure dealing with the general matters set forth in this measure may be on the ballot at the same time. It is the intent of the voters that the provisions in this measure be considered, for purposes of Article II, Section 10 of the California Constitution, to be in conflict with any other measure that would either restrict the right to bring securities fraud or misrepresentation actions or the procedures by which such actions are prosecuted, or which would restrict the right of a client and an attorney to freely with each other and to enforce such contracts.
If any provision of this Act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.
The provisions of this Act may be amended by a statute that becomes effective upon approval by the electorate.