410
Opinion of the Court
ing the time when the policies subject to disclosure were sold, § 13804(a). Nor is the obligation restricted to policies sold to "Holocaust victims" as defined in the Act, § 13802(a); it covers policies sold to anyone during that time, § 13804(a). The insurer must report the current status of each policy, the city of origin, domicile, or address of each policyholder, and the names of the beneficiaries, § 13804(a), all of which is to be put in a central registry open to the public, § 13803. The mandatory penalty for default is suspension of the company's license to do business in the State, § 13806, and there are misdemeanor criminal sanctions for falsehood in certain required representations about whether and to whom the proceeds of each policy have been distributed, § 13804(b).
HVIRA was meant to enhance enforcement of both the unfair business practice provision (§ 790.15) and the provision for suit on the policies in question (§ 354.5) by "ensur[ing] that any involvement [that licensed California insurers] or their related companies may have had with insurance policies of Holocaust victims are [sic] disclosed to the state." § 13801(e); see ibid. (HVIRA is designed to "ensure the rapid resolution" of unpaid insurance claims, "eliminating the further victimization of these policyholders and their families"); Excerpt of Record in No. 01-17023 (CA9) (ER), p. 994 (California Senate Committee on Insurance report) (HVIRA was proposed to "ensure that Holocaust victims or their heirs can take direct action on their own behalf with regard to insurance policies and claims"). While the legislature acknowledged that "[t]he international Jewish community is in active
or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the [insurer]." Cal. Ins. Code Ann. § 1215(a) (West 1993) (cross-referenced in § 2278.1(e)). A "[m]anaging [g]eneral [a]gent" is a company that "negotiates and binds ceding reinsurance contracts on behalf of an insurer or manages all or part of the insurance business of an insurer." § 769.819(c) (cross-referenced in § 2278.1(c)). A "reinsurer" is "a parent, subsidiary or affiliate of the insurer that provides reinsurance." Cal. Code Regs., Tit. 10, § 2278.1(i) (1996).
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