33-3-401. Home office and records -- penalty for unlawful removal of records or assets. - Montana Statutes

     33-3-401. Home office and records -- penalty for unlawful removal of records or assets. (1) Each domestic insurer must have and shall maintain its principal place of business and home office in this state and shall maintain at its principal place of business or home office complete records of its assets, transactions, and affairs in accordance with methods and systems customary or suitable to the kind or kinds of insurance that it transacts. Records of the insurer's operations and other financial records reasonably related to its insurance operations for the preceding 5 years must be maintained and be available to the commissioner or the commissioner's examiner.
     (2) Each domestic insurer must have and shall maintain its assets in this state, except for:
     (a) real property and appurtenant personal property lawfully owned by the insurer and located outside this state; and
     (b) property of the insurer that is customary, necessary, and convenient to enable and facilitate the operation of its branch offices and regional home offices located outside this state as referred to in subsection (4).
     (3) Removal of all or a material part of the records or assets of a domestic insurer from this state except pursuant to a plan of merger or consolidation approved by the commissioner under this code or for reasonable purposes and periods of time as may be approved by the commissioner in writing in advance is prohibited. Any person who removes or attempts to remove all or a material part of records or assets from the home office, other place of business, or safekeeping of the insurer in this state with the intent to remove the records or assets from this state or who conceals or attempts to conceal records or assets from the commissioner, in violation of this subsection, shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than 5 years or by both a fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Upon any removal or attempted removal of records or assets or upon retention of records or assets or a material part of the records or assets outside this state beyond the period specified in the commissioner's consent under which the records were removed or upon concealment of or attempt to conceal records or assets in violation of this section, the commissioner may institute delinquency proceedings against the insurer pursuant to the provisions of chapter 2, part 13.
     (4) This section does not prohibit or prevent an insurer from:
     (a) establishing and maintaining branch offices or regional home offices in other states when necessary or convenient to the transaction of its business and keeping there the detailed records and assets customary and necessary for the servicing of its insurance in force and affairs in the territory served by the out-of-state office, as long as the records and assets are made readily available at that office for examination by the commissioner when requested;
     (b) having, depositing, or transmitting funds and assets of the insurer in or to jurisdictions outside of this state as reasonably and customarily required in the regular course of its business;
     (c) making deposits under custodial arrangements as provided by 33-2-604(3).
     (5) An insurer that fails to maintain records and make them available to the commissioner's staff is subject to the penalties and procedures in 33-1-317, 33-1-318, and 33-2-119.

     History: En. Sec. 442, Ch. 286, L. 1959; R.C.M. 1947, 40-4725; amd. Sec. 141, Ch. 575, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 798, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 493, L. 2003.