Bill
HB 1918
Expands Arkansas law to treat refined gold/silver and bullion-backed electronic accounts as legal tender, enabling accredited bullion depositories and related electronic systems.
Status note (record inconsistency)
- The primary bill language provided concerns Arkansas legislation to amend laws on specie/legal tender and to authorize bullion depositories and precious‑metals‑backed electronic payment systems. The top of the record lists the bill as “Died In Committee.” However, the legislative actions block contains inconsistent entries (including actions that suggest passage, enrollment, and references to an Illinois HB1918). These inconsistencies appear to mix multiple bills and jurisdictions. Verify final status with the official Arkansas legislative website or the Clerk before relying on enactment status.
Purpose and intent
- To expand Arkansas law to recognize refined gold and silver bullion and bullion‑backed electronic accounts as forms of specie or legal tender for private transactions, to authorize accredited bullion depositories to hold such bullion, and to enable precious‑metals‑backed electronic payment systems to operate under state rules.
Key provisions
- Definitions (selected)
- “Bullion”: refined gold or silver valued primarily on metal content; formats may be adopted by rule.
- “Bullion depository”: vaulting entity (within U.S.) accredited by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) that follows LBMA best practices and contracts to hold specie/legal tender for authorized electronic system vendors.
- “Precious metals‑backed electronic payment system”: an authorized electronic system whose accounts are backed by bullion in depositories, allowing buying, selling, saving, spending, and redemption of bullion.
- “Transactional gold and silver”: electronic/written representations of physical gold/silver fully redeemable in exact fractional troy ounces or grams.
- Legal/tax treatment
- Specie or legal tender defined to include U.S. gold/silver coin and refined bullion (as courts designate).
- Specie or legal tender not to be characterized as personal property for taxation or regulatory purposes.
- Exchange, purchase, sale, or conversion between forms of legal tender or specie shall not by itself give rise to tax liability.
- Contracts and enforcement
- Parties cannot be compelled to accept specie unless contractually agreed.
- Where a valid contract specifies a form of specie, courts shall enforce specific performance requiring tender in that form.
- Attorney General to enforce the section while preserving private rights of action.
- Rulemaking and administrative authority
- Chief Fiscal Officer of the State to promulgate implementing rules covering: vendor election to receive bullion or dollars (no extra cost), conversion mechanisms (per party agreement), security of transactional instruments, allocation of account and conversion fees, assessing sufficiency of depository holdings, authorization of vendors, and fraud prevention.
Who would be affected
- Consumers and merchants who choose to transact in gold/silver or bullion‑backed electronic accounts.
- Financial technology firms offering precious‑metals‑backed electronic payment systems.
- Bullion depositories and vault operators (must meet LBMA accreditation/best practices).
- State and local governments if they agree to accept physical gold/silver for taxes, fees, or public obligations.
- Courts and the Chief Fiscal Officer (rulemaking and enforcement roles).
Potential practical impacts and considerations
- Enables private commerce in bullion-backed digital instruments and creates a statutory framework for vaulting and redemption.
- Raises operational and regulatory questions (valuation and conversion methods, price volatility, custody/audit standards, anti‑money‑laundering/compliance, consumer protection).
- Shifts certain taxation and contract enforcement outcomes for parties electing to use specie or precious‑metals‑backed accounts.
Procedural/timeline aspects
- The provided record shows committee activity (hearings and testimony) and a rulemaking directive to the Chief Fiscal Officer. Due to conflicting procedural entries in the record, confirm the bill’s final status and any effective dates with the official legislative record.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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