33-2-1120. Criminal or civil proceedings -- penalties. - Montana Statutes

     33-2-1120. Criminal or civil proceedings -- penalties. (1) An insurer failing without just cause to file a registration statement as required in 33-2-1111 shall, after notice and hearing, pay a penalty of $100 for each day of delinquency. The maximum penalty under this subsection is $25,000. The commissioner may reduce the penalty if the insurer demonstrates to the commissioner that the imposition of the penalty would constitute a financial hardship to the insurer.
     (2) A director or an officer of an insurance holding company system who knowingly violates, participates in, or assents to a transaction or who knowingly permits an officer or insurance producer of the insurer to engage in a transaction or make an investment that has not been properly reported or submitted pursuant to 33-2-1111 or 33-2-1113 or that violates any other provision of Title 33, chapter 2, part 11, shall, after notice and hearing, pay, in the director's or officer's individual capacity, a fine of not more than $5,000 for each violation. To determine the amount of the fine, the commissioner shall consider the appropriateness of the fine with respect to the gravity of the violation, the history of previous violations, and other matters that justice may require.
     (3) If the commissioner determines that an insurer subject to Title 33, chapter 2, part 11, or a director, officer, employee, or insurance producer of the insurer has engaged in a transaction or entered into a contract that is subject to 33-2-1113 and that would not have been approved had approval been requested, the commissioner may order the insurer to cease and desist immediately any further activity under that transaction or contract. After notice and hearing, the commissioner may also order the insurer to void the contract and restore the status quo if that action is in the best interest of policyholders, creditors, or the public.
     (4) Whenever it appears to the commissioner that any insurer or any director, officer, employee, or insurance producer of the insurer has committed a willful violation of this part, the commissioner may cause criminal proceedings to be instituted by the district court for the county in which the principal office of the insurer is located or if the insurer does not have an office in the state, then by the district court for Lewis and Clark County against the insurer or the responsible director, officer, employee, or insurance producer of the insurer.
     (5) Any insurer that willfully violates this part may be fined not more than $25,000.
     (6) Any individual who willfully violates this part may be fined not more than $5,000 or, if the willful violation involves the deliberate perpetration of a fraud upon the commissioner, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

     History: En. Sec. 10, Ch. 64, L. 1971; R.C.M. 1947, 40-5518; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 620, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 713, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1093, Ch. 56, L. 2009.