56-9-106 - Obligation to cooperate with commissioner Obstruction of, or interference with, commissioner Penalties. - Tennessee Statutes

56-9-106. Obligation to cooperate with commissioner Obstruction of, or interference with, commissioner Penalties.

(a)  (1)  Any officer, manager, director, trustee, owner, employee or agent of any insurer, or any other persons with authority over, or in charge of, any segment of the insurer's affairs, shall cooperate with the commissioner in any proceeding under this chapter or any investigation preliminary to the proceeding.

     (2)  As used in this section:

          (A)  “Person” includes any person who exercises control directly or indirectly over activities of the insurer through any holding company or other affiliate of the insurer; and

          (B)  “To cooperate” includes, but is not limited to, the following:

                (i)  To reply promptly in writing to any inquiry from the commissioner requesting such a reply; and

                (ii)  To make available to the commissioner any books, accounts, documents, or other records or information or property of, or pertaining to, the insurer and in the person's possession, custody or control.

(b)  No person shall obstruct or interfere with the commissioner in the conduct of any delinquency proceeding or any investigation preliminary or incidental thereto.

(c)  This section shall not be construed to abridge otherwise existing legal rights, including the right to resist a petition for liquidation or other delinquency proceedings, or other orders.

(d)  Any person included within subsection (a) who willfully and wrongfully obstructs or interferes with the commissioner in the conduct of any delinquency proceeding or any investigation preliminary or incidental thereto, or who violates any order the commissioner issued validly under this chapter may:

     (1)  Be sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to pay a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or be punished for a Class E felony, or both; or

     (2)  After a hearing, be subject to the imposition by the commissioner of a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and shall be subject further to the revocation or suspension of any insurance licenses issued by the commissioner.

[Acts 1991, ch. 142, § 4.]