§33-27-4 Registration of insurers. - West Virginia Statutes

§33-27-4. Registration of insurers.

(a) Every insurer which is authorized to do business in this state and which is a member of an insurance holding company system shall register with the commissioner, except a foreign insurer subject to disclosure requirements and standards adopted by statute or regulation in the jurisdiction of its domicile which are substantially similar to those contained in this section. Any insurer which is subject to registration under this section shall register within sixty days after the effective date of this article or fifteen days after it becomes subject to registration, whichever is later, and annually thereafter by the first day of June of each year for the previous calendar year, unless the commissioner for good cause shown extends the time for registration, and then within such extended time. The commissioner may require any authorized insurer which is a member of a holding company system which is not subject to registration under this section to furnish a copy of the registration statement, the summary described in subsection (c) of this section, or other information filed by such insurance company with the insurance regulatory authority of domiciliary jurisdiction.

(b) Every insurer subject to registration shall file a registration statement on a form prescribed by the national association of insurance commissioners, which shall contain current information about:

(1) The capital structure, general financial condition, ownership and management of the insurer and any person controlling the insurer.

(2) The identity and relationship of every member of the insurance holding company system.

(3) The following agreements in force, relationships subsisting, and transactions currently outstanding or which have occurred during the last calendar year between such insurer and its affiliates:

(A) Loans, other investments, or purchases, sales or exchanges of securities of the affiliates by the insurer or of the insurer by its affiliates;

(B) Purchases, sales or exchanges of assets;

(C) Transactions not in the ordinary course of business;

(D) Guarantees or undertakings for the benefit of an affiliate which result in an actual contingent exposure of the insurer's assets to liability, other than insurance contracts entered into in the ordinary course of the insurer's business;

(E) All management and service contracts and all cost-sharing arrangements;

(F) All reinsurance agreements;

(G) Dividends and other distributions to shareholders; and

(H) Any pledge of the insurer's stock, including stock of any subsidiary or controlling affiliate, for a loan made to any member of the insurance holding company system.

(4) Other matters concerning transactions between registered insurers and any affiliates as may be included from time to time in any registration forms adopted or approved by the commissioner.

(c) All registration statements shall contain a summary outlining all items in the current registration statement representing changes from the prior registration statement.

(d) Information need not be disclosed on the registration statement filed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section if such information is not material for the purpose of this section. Unless the commissioner by rule or order provides otherwise, sales, purchases, exchanges, loans or extensions of credit, or investments, involving one half of one percent or less of an insurer's admitted assets as of the thirty-first day of December next preceding shall not be deemed material for purposes of this section.

(e) Each registered insurer shall keep current the information required to be disclosed in its registration statement by reporting all material changes or additions on amendment forms provided by the commissioner within fifteen days after the end of the month inwhich it learns of each such change or addition.

(f) Subject to subsection (c), section five of this article, each registered insurer shall report to the commissioner all dividends and other distributions to shareholders within fifteen business days following the declaration thereof.

(g) Any person within an insurance holding company system subject to registration shall be required to provide complete and accurate information to an insurer, when such information is reasonably necessary to enable the insurer to comply with the provisions of this article.

(h) The commissioner shall terminate the registration of any insurer which demonstrates that it no longer is a member of an insurance holding company system.

(i) The commissioner may require or allow two or more affiliated insurers subject to registration hereunder to file a consolidated registration statement or consolidated reports amending their consolidated registration statement or their individual registration statements.

(j) The commissioner may allow an insurer which is authorized to do business in this state and which is a part of an insurance holding company system to register on behalf of any affiliated insurer which is required to register under subsection (a) of this section and to file all information and material required to be filed under this section.

(k) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any insurer, information or transaction if and to the extent that the commissioner by rule or order shall exempt the same from the provisions of this section.

(l) Any person may file with the commissioner a disclaimer of affiliation with any authorized insurer or such a disclaimer may be filed by such insurer or any member of an insurance holding company system. The disclaimer shall fully disclose all material relationships and bases for affiliation between such person and such insurer as well as the basis for disclaiming such affiliation. After a disclaimer has been filed, the insurer shall be relieved of any duty to register or report under this section which may arise out of the insurer's relationship with such person unless and until the commissioner disallows such a disclaimer. The commissioner shall disallow such a disclaimer only after furnishing all parties in interest with notice and opportunity to be heard and after making specific findings of fact to support such disallowance.

(m) The failure to file a registration statement or any amendment thereto required by this section within the time specified for such filing shall be a violation of this section.