The act creates a new chapter in Title 21 RCW that imposes deadlines and remedies for financial institutions handling retirement account distribution requests. It requires any covered financial institution to transmit distribution funds to the consumer or a receiving institution no later than 15 business days after receipt of a valid distribution request. A request for supplemental information only pauses the 15‑day period if the information is necessary to complete the request and the consumer is notified in writing within three business days. If funds are not transmitted on time, the institution must pay market rate interest, calculated daily (defined as the average four‑week U.S. Treasury bill rate for the retention period), beginning on the 16th business day and continuing until transmission; that interest must be paid in addition to the distribution amount. The act creates a new civil remedy and enforcement framework. Consumers may sue to recover the required interest, court costs and reasonable attorney fees, and statutory damages of up to $500 per violation. Remedies in the chapter are cumulative of other state or federal rights. The Department of Financial Institutions may adopt rules to implement and enforce the chapter, and the act includes a severability clause. The text defines covered terms, including “financial institution,” “qualified retirement plan” (by reference to specified Internal Revenue Code sections), “retirement account distribution,” and “valid distribution request,” and states it is not intended to regulate employee benefit plans governed by ERISA. Information not provided in the extracted text includes an effective date for the act, a specific new RCW chapter number within Title 21, a definition of “business day,” detailed procedures or standards for proving damages beyond interest and statutory damages, and what constitutes the “forms or documentation reasonably required” for a valid distribution request.

If enacted, banks, credit unions, broker-dealers, investment companies and other firms that hold or transmit retirement funds in Washington would generally have to send a consumer’s requested retirement distribution or rollover to the consumer or the receiving institution within 15 business days after getting a valid request. If they don’t, they would owe interest calculated daily at the average four‑week U.S. Treasury bill rate starting on the 16th business day, and that interest must be paid in addition to the distribution. A request for more information only pauses the 15‑day clock if the institution gives the consumer written notice of the needed information within three business days. Consumers could sue to recover the interest, court costs, attorney fees, and up to $500 in statutory damages per violation, so financial firms face faster processing deadlines, new potential interest costs, and higher litigation risk; receiving institutions and consumers would likely see faster transfers when firms comply. Key implementation details remain unclear from the text provided: there’s no effective date, “business day” isn’t defined here, the bill doesn’t specify what counts as the “forms or documentation reasonably required” to make a request valid, and it doesn’t lay out detailed procedures for calculating or proving damages beyond the interest and $500 cap. The Department of Financial Institutions may later adopt rules to fill in some of these gaps, and the act is not intended to regulate employee benefit plans governed by ERISA.