Order of Commissioner relating to acquisition: Issuance; standards.
1. The Commissioner may issue an order pursuant to NRS 692C.258 relating to an acquisition if:
(a) The effect of the acquisition may substantially lessen competition in any line of insurance in this state or tend to create a monopoly; or
(b) The acquiring person fails to file sufficient materials or information pursuant to NRS 692C.254.
2. In determining whether to issue an order pursuant to subsection 1, the Commissioner shall consider the standards set forth in the Horizontal Merger Guidelines issued by the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission and in effect at the time the Commissioner receives the notice required pursuant to NRS 692C.254.
3. The Commissioner shall not issue an order specified in subsection 1:
(a) If:
(1) The acquisition creates substantial economies of scale or economies in the use of resources that may not be created in any other manner; and
(2) The public benefit received from those economies exceeds the public benefit received from not lessening competition; or
(b) If:
(1) The acquisition substantially increases the availability of insurance; and
(2) The public benefit received by that increase exceeds the public benefit received from not lessening competition.
4. The public benefits set forth in subparagraph 2 of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection 3 may be considered together, as applicable, in assessing whether the public benefits received from the acquisition exceed any benefit to competition that would arise from disapproving the acquisition.
5. The Commissioner has the burden of establishing a violation of the competitive standard set forth in subsection 1.
Last modified: February 27, 2006