WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                   Ch. 261

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article - Financial Institutions

13-240.

(a)  Under the Program, the Authority may provide equity
participation financing, including the purchase of qualified
securities issued by a franchise, only after the enterprise has
submitted an application that contains a business plan,
including:

(1)  A description of the franchisee and its
management, product, and market;

(2)  A statement of the amount, immediacy of need, and
projected use of the capital required;

(3)  A statement of the potential economic impact of
the purchase;

(4)  Information that relates to the satisfaction of
the applicant's requirements of § 13-231 of this subtitle; and

(5)  Any other information the Authority requires.

(b)  Under the Program, any equity participation financing
shall satisfy the following requirements:

(1)  The Authority shall not own securities
representing more than 45 percent of the voting stock of any
franchisee or own an interest greater than 45 percent in any
franchise.

(2)  The amount of the Authority's equity
participation financing for any franchise shall not exceed
$100,000 and shall not exceed 45 percent of the total initial
investment in the franchise.

[(3) The total amount of equity participation
financing DISBURSED shall not exceed $1,000,000 $3,000,000 for
any 12-month period A CALENDAR YEAR.]

[(4)] (3) The Authority shall find that there is a
reasonable probability that the Authority will recover its
initial investment and an adequate return on investment, and the
Authority's investment shall be recoverable within 5 years of the
equity participation financing.

[(5)] (4) The Authority's recovery shall be the
greater of the current value of the percentage of the equity

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