Bill Text: CA AB1234 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Insurance: registration statements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-19 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 448, Statutes of 2014. [AB1234 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB1234-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1234 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 448
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 19, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 17, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 1215.8 of the Insurance Code, relating to
insurance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1234, Levine. Insurance: registration statements.
Existing law governs the business of insurance and authorizes the
Insurance Commissioner to provide oversight over the insurance
industry, including conducting investigations and bringing
enforcement actions.
Existing law requires each insurer that is authorized to do
business in this state and that is a member of an insurance holding
company system to register with the commissioner and to file a
registration statement containing specified information, including
the capital structure and general financial condition of the insurer
and specified transactions between the insurer and its affiliates.
Existing law makes the information reported to the commissioner in
the registration statement and information disclosed in the course
of an examination or investigation of the registration statement
exempt from subpoena or public disclosure, except as specified.
This bill would instead make information reported to the
commissioner in the registration statement and information disclosed
in the course of an examination or investigation of the registration
statement exempt from public disclosure by the commissioner and not
subject to discovery from the commissioner or admissible into
evidence in any private civil action if obtained from the
commissioner in any manner, except as specified.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that
limits the public's right of access to the meetings of public bodies
or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with
findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and
the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1215.8 of the Insurance Code is amended to
read:
1215.8. (a) All information, documents, and copies thereof
obtained by or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person in
the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to
Sections 1215.4 and 1215.5, and all information reported pursuant to
Section 1215.4, shall be kept confidential, is not subject to
disclosure by the commissioner pursuant to the California Public
Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7
of Title 1 of the Government Code), is not subject to subpoena, and
is not subject to discovery from the commissioner or admissible into
evidence in any private civil action if obtained from the
commissioner in any manner. This information shall not be made public
by the commissioner or any other person except to insurance
departments of other states without the prior written consent of the
insurance company to which it pertains, unless the commissioner,
after giving the insurer and its affiliates who would be affected
thereby notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the
interests of policyholders, shareholders, or the public will be
served by the publication thereof, in which event he or she may
publish all or any part thereof in a manner as he or she may deem
appropriate.
(b) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner's
duties, the commissioner:
(1) May, upon request, be required to share documents, materials,
or other information, including the confidential and privileged
documents, materials, or information subject to subdivision (a), with
other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with
the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state,
federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including
members of any supervisory college described in Section 1215.7;
provided that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the
confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or
other information, and has verified in writing the legal authority
to maintain confidentiality.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), may only share confidential and
privileged documents, materials, or information reported pursuant to
subdivision (m) of Section 1215.4 with commissioners of states
having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subdivision
(a) and who have agreed in writing not to disclose the information.
(3) May receive documents, materials, or information, including
otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or
information, from the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries and
from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or
domestic jurisdictions, and shall maintain as confidential or
privileged any documents, materials, or information received with
notice or the understanding that it is confidential or privileged
under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the
documents, materials, or information.
(4) May enter into written agreements with the NAIC governing
sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this subdivision
consistent with this subdivision that shall do the following:
(A) Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality
and security of information shared with the NAIC and its affiliates
and subsidiaries pursuant to this subdivision, including procedures
and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal, or
international regulators.
(B) Specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC and
its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this subdivision remains
with the commissioner and the NAIC's use of the information is
subject to the direction of the commissioner.
(C) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose
confidential information in the possession of the NAIC pursuant to
this subdivision is subject to a request or subpoena to the NAIC for
disclosure or production.
(D) Require the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries to
consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or
administrative action in which the NAIC and its affiliates and
subsidiaries may be required to disclose confidential information
about the insurer shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and
subsidiaries pursuant to this subdivision.
(c) The sharing of information by the commissioner pursuant to
this subdivision shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory
authority or rulemaking, and the commissioner is solely responsible
for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions
of this article.
(d) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of
confidentiality in the documents, materials, or information shall
occur as a result of disclosure to the commissioner under this
section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subdivision (c).
(e) Documents, materials, or other information filed in the
possession or control of the NAIC pursuant to this subdivision shall
be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to
subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in
evidence in any private civil action.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this
act, which amends Section 1215.8 of the Insurance Code, imposes
limits on the public's right of access to meetings of public bodies
or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning
of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to
that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following
findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and
the need for protecting that interest:
In order to protect proprietary information, it is necessary to
enact legislation that limits the public's right of access to
insurance holding company system information that is provided
pursuant to Section 1215.8 of the Insurance Code.
