33-2-1125. Recovery of dividends. - Montana Statutes

     33-2-1125. Recovery of dividends. (1) If an order for liquidation or rehabilitation of an insurer domiciled in this state has been entered, the receiver appointed under the order has a right to recover on behalf of the insurer:
     (a) from any parent corporation or holding company or person or affiliate who otherwise controlled the insurer, the amount of distributions, other than distributions of shares of the same class of stock, paid by the insurer on its capital stock; or
     (b) any payment in the form of a bonus, termination settlement, or extraordinary lump-sum salary adjustment made by the insurer or its subsidiary to a director, officer, or employee, when the distribution or payment pursuant to subsection (1)(a) or this subsection is made at any time during the year preceding the petition for liquidation, conservation, or rehabilitation, as the case may be, subject to the limitations of subsections (2) through (4).
     (2) A distribution is not recoverable if the parent or affiliate shows that when paid the distribution was lawful and reasonable and that the insurer did not know and could not reasonably have known that the distribution might adversely affect the ability of the insurer to fulfill its contractual obligations.
     (3) Any person who was a parent corporation or holding company or a person who otherwise controlled the insurer or affiliate at the time that the distributions were paid is liable up to the amount of distributions or payments that the person received. Any person who otherwise controlled the insurer at the time that the distributions were declared is liable up to the amount of distributions the person would have received if the person had been paid immediately. If two or more persons are liable with respect to the same distributions, they are jointly and severally liable.
     (4) The maximum amount recoverable under this section is the amount needed in excess of all other available assets of the impaired or insolvent insurer to pay the contractual obligations of the impaired or insolvent insurer and to reimburse any guaranty funds.
     (5) To the extent that any person liable under subsection (3) is insolvent or otherwise fails to pay claims due from it, its parent corporation or holding company or person who otherwise controlled it at the time the distribution was paid is jointly and severally liable for any resulting deficiency in the amount recovered from the parent corporation or holding company or person who otherwise controlled it.

     History: En. Sec. 48, Ch. 596, L. 1993.