Code of Alabama - Title 27: Insurance - Section 27-29-4 - Registration of insurers

Section 27-29-4 - Registration of insurers.

(a)(1) 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 registration requirements and standards adopted by statute or regulation in the jurisdiction of its domicile which are substantially similar to those contained in this section and both of the following:

a. Subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of Section 27-29-5, and subsections (b) and (d) of Section 27-29-5.

b. Either subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of Section 27-29-5 or a provision such as the following: Each registered insurer shall keep current the information required to be disclosed in its registration statement by reporting all material changes or additions within 15 days after the end of the month in which it learns of each change or addition.

(2) Any insurer which is subject to registration under this section shall register within 15 days after it becomes subject to registration, and annually thereafter by June 1 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 an insurance holding company system which is not subject to registration under this section to furnish a copy of the registration statement, the summary specified in subsection (c) 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 commissioner by rule which shall contain the following current information:

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

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

(3) The following agreements in force, 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 agreements and service contracts and all cost-sharing arrangements.

f. Reinsurance agreements.

g. Dividends and other distributions to shareholders.

h. Consolidated tax allocation agreements.

(4) 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.

(5) If requested by the commissioner, financial statements of or within an insurance holding company system, including all affiliates. Financial statements may include, but are not limited to, annual audited financial statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. An insurer required to file financial statements pursuant to this subdivision may satisfy the request by providing the commissioner with the most recently filed parent corporation financial statements that have been filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. Financial statements of insurer's affiliates required to be filed with the commissioner may be filed by the insurer in the accounting standard utilized by the affiliate in its usual course of business at the time of the filing.

(6) 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.

(7) Statements that the insurer's board of directors or an appropriate committee of the board oversees corporate governance and internal controls and that the insurer's officers or senior management have approved, implemented, and continue to maintain and monitor corporate governance and internal control procedures.

(8) Any other information required by the commissioner by rule.

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

(d) No information need be disclosed on the registration statement filed pursuant to subsection (b) if such information is not material for the purposes of this section. Unless the commissioner by rule, regulation, 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 December 31, next preceding, shall not be deemed material for purposes of this section.

(e) Subject to subsection (b) of Section 27-29-5, each registered insurer shall so report all dividends and other distributions to shareholders within 15 business days following the declaration thereof.

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

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

(h) The commissioner may require or allow two or more affiliated insurers subject to registration under this section to file a consolidated registration statement.

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

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

(k) Any person may file with the commissioner a disclaimer of affiliation with any authorized insurer or a disclaimer may be filed by the insurer or any member of an insurance holding company system. The disclaimer shall fully disclose all material relationships and bases for affiliation between the person and the insurer as well as the basis for disclaiming such affiliation. A disclaimer of affiliation shall be deemed to have been granted unless the commissioner, within 30 days following receipt of a complete disclaimer, notifies the filing party the disclaimer is disallowed. In the event of disallowance, the disclaiming party may request an administrative hearing, which shall be granted. The disclaiming party shall be relieved of its duty to register under this section if approval of the disclaimer has been granted by the commissioner, or if the disclaimer is deemed to have been approved.

(l) The ultimate controlling person of every insurer subject to registration shall also file an annual enterprise risk report. The report shall, to the best of the ultimate controlling person's knowledge and belief, identify the material risks within the insurance holding company system that could pose enterprise risk to the insurer. The report shall be filed with the lead state commissioner of the insurance holding company system as determined by the procedures within the Financial Analysis Handbook adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

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

(Acts 1973, No. 1042, p. 1636, §5; Acts 1994, No. 94-634, p. 1178, §2; Act 2014-324, p. 1151, §1; Act 2017-228, §1.)

Last modified: May 3, 2021