MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Insurance
By: Representative Turner
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 83-6-1, 83-6-3, 83-6-5, 83-6-7, 83-6-21 AND 83-6-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE GROUP CAPITAL CALCULATION AND LIQUIDITY STRESS TEST REQUIREMENTS TO THE HOLDING COMPANY ACT; TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE TO REQUIRE AN INSURER TO SECURE AND MAINTAIN EITHER A DEPOSIT OR BOND IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN SUPERVISION, SEIZURE, CONSERVATORSHIP OR RECEIVERSHIP PROCEEDINGS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE SHALL MAINTAIN THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE GROUP CAPITAL CALCULATION AND GROUP CAPITAL RATIO PRODUCED WITHIN THE CALCULATION AND ANY GROUP CAPITAL INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM AN INSURANCE HOLDING COMPANY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 83-6-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-6-1. As used in this chapter the following terms have the respective meanings herein set forth unless the context shall require otherwise:
(a) An "affiliate of" or person "affiliated" with a specific person means a person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the person specified.
(b) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Insurance.
(c) "Control" (including the terms "controlling," "controlled by" and "under common control with") means the possession of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract other than a commercial contract for goods or nonmanagement services or otherwise, unless the power is the result of an official position with or corporate office held by the person. "Control" shall be presumed to exist if any person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, holds with the power to vote or holds proxies representing ten percent (10%) or more of the voting securities of any other person. This presumption may be rebutted by a showing made in the manner provided in Section 83-6-17 that control does not exist in fact. The commissioner may determine, after furnishing all persons in interest notice and opportunity to be heard and making specific findings of fact to support such determination, that control exists in fact, notwithstanding the absence of a presumption to that effect.
(d) An "insurance holding company system" consists of two (2) or more affiliated persons, one or more of which is an insurer.
(e) "Insurer" means only those companies subject to the jurisdiction of the commissioner as provided in Section 83-5-1; however, burial associations regulated pursuant to Chapter 37, Title 83, Mississippi Code of 1972, are excluded from this definition.
(f) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, unincorporated organization, any similar entity or any combination of the foregoing acting in concert, but shall not include any securities broker performing no more than the usual and customary broker's function.
(g) A "security holder" of a specified person means one who owns any security of such person, including common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations and any other security convertible into or evidencing the right to acquire any of the foregoing.
(h) "Subsidiary" of a specified person means an affiliate controlled by a person, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries.
(i) The term "voting security" includes any security convertible into or evidencing a right to acquire a voting security.
(j) "Enterprise risk" shall mean any activity, circumstance, event or series of events involving one or more affiliates of an insurer that, if not remedied promptly, is likely to have a material adverse effect upon the financial condition or liquidity of the insurer or its insurance holding company system as a whole, including, but not limited to, anything that would cause the insurer's Risk-Based Capital to fall into company action level as provided in Section 83-5-405 or would cause the insurer to be in hazardous financial condition as provided in Part 1, Chapter 39, Title 19 of the Mississippi Administrative Code.
(k) "Group-wide supervisor" means the regulatory official authorized to engage in conducting and coordinating group-wide supervision activities who is determined or acknowledged by the commissioner under Section 83-6-47 to have sufficient significant contacts with the internationally active insurance group.
(l) "Internationally active insurance group" means an insurance holding company system that:
(i) Includes an insurer registered under Section 83-6-3; and
(ii) Meets the following criteria:
1. Premiums written in at least three (3) countries;
2. The percentage of gross premiums written outside the United States is at least ten percent (10%) of the insurance holding company system's total gross written premiums; and
3. Based on a three-year rolling average, the total assets of the insurance holding company system are at least Fifty Billion ($50,000,000,000.00) or the total gross written premiums of the insurance holding company system are at least Ten Billion Dollars ($10,000,000,000.00).
(m) "Group capital calculation instructions" means the group capital calculation instructions as adopted by the NAIC and as amended by the NAIC from time-to-time in accordance with the procedures adopted by the NAIC.
(n) "NAIC" shall mean the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
(o) "NAIC Liquidity Stress Test Framework" means a separate NAIC publication which includes a history of the NAIC's development of regulatory liquidity stress testing, the scope criteria applicable for a specific data year, and the liquidity stress test instructions and reporting templates for a specific data year, such scope criteria, instructions and reporting template being as adopted by the NAIC and as amended by the NAIC from time-to-time in accordance with the procedures adopted by the NAIC.
(p) "Scope criteria" means, as detailed in the NAIC liquidity stress test framework, the designated exposure bases along with minimum magnitudes thereof for the specified data year, used to establish a preliminary list of insurers considered scoped into the NAIC liquidity stress test framework for that data year.
SECTION 2. Section 83-6-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-6-3.
Every insurer which is authorized to do business in this state and which is a
member of an insurance holding company system, 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 Sections 83-6-3 through 83-6-19, is required to register with the
commissioner. Any insurer which is subject to registration under Sections 83-6-3
through 83-6-19 is required to register within * * * fifteen
(15) days after it becomes subject to registration, whichever is later, 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 Sections 83-6-3 through 83-6-19 to furnish a copy of the
registration statement or other information filed by such insurer with the
insurance regulatory authority of its domiciliary jurisdiction.
SECTION 3. Section 83-6-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-6-5. (1) Every insurer subject to registration is required to file a registration statement on a form provided by the commissioner which shall contain current information setting forth:
(a) The capital structure, general financial condition, ownership and management of the insurer and any person controlling the insurer;
(b) The identity of every member of the insurance holding company system;
(c) The following agreements in force, relationships subsisting and transactions currently outstanding between such insurer and its affiliates:
(i) Loans, other investments or purchases, sales or exchanges of securities of the affiliates by the insurer or of the insurer by its affiliates;
(ii) Purchases, sales or exchanges of assets;
(iii) Transactions not in the ordinary course of business;
(iv) 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;
(v) All management and service contracts and all cost-sharing arrangements, other than cost allocation arrangements based upon generally accepted accounting principles;
(vi) Reinsurance agreements covering all or substantially all of one or more lines of insurance of the ceding company;
(vii) Dividends and other distributions to shareholders; and
(viii) Consolidated tax allocation agreements.
(d) 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;
(e) If requested by the commissioner, the insurer shall include 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 United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 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 paragraph may satisfy the request by providing the commissioner with the most recently filed parent corporation financial statements that have been filed with the SEC;
(f) 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;
(g) Statements that the insurer's board of directors 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.
(h) Any other information required by the commissioner by rule or regulation.
(2) All registration statements shall contain a summary outlining all items in the current registration statement representing changes from the prior registration statement.
(3) Subject to Section 83-6-25, each registered insurer shall report to the commissioner all dividends and other distributions to shareholders within fifteen (15) business days following the declaration thereof.
(4) 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.
(5) (a) Enterprise Risk Filings. 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.
(b) Group Capital Calculation. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the ultimate controlling person of every insurer subject to registration shall concurrently file, with the registration, an annual group capital calculation as directed by the lead state commissioner. The report shall be completed in accordance with the NAIC group capital calculation instructions, which may permit the lead state commissioner to allow a controlling person that is not the ultimate controlling person to file the group capital calculation. The report shall be filed with the lead state commissioner of the insurance holding company system as determined by the commissioner in accordance with the procedures within the Financial Analysis Handbook adopted by the NAIC. Insurance holding company systems described below are exempt from filing the group capital calculation:
(i) An insurance holding company system that has only one (1) insurer within its holding company structure, that only writes business and is only licensed in its domestic state, and assumes no business from any other insurer;
(ii) An insurance holding company system that is required to perform a group capital calculation specified by the United States Federal Reserve Board. The lead state commissioner shall request the calculation from the Federal Reserve Board under the terms of information sharing agreements in effect. If the Federal Reserve Board cannot share the calculation with the lead state commissioner, the insurance holding company system is not exempt from the group capital calculation filing;
(iii) An insurance holding company system whose non-United States group-wide supervisor is located within a reciprocal jurisdiction as described in Section 83-19-151(f)(1) that recognizes the United States state regulatory approach to group supervision and group capital;
(iv) An insurance holding company system:
1. That provides information to the lead state that meets the requirements for accreditation under the NAIC financial standards and accreditation program, either directly or indirectly through the group-wide supervisor, who has determined such information is satisfactory to allow the lead state to comply with the NAIC group supervision approach, as detailed in the NAIC Financial Analysis Handbook; and
2. Whose non-United States group-wide supervisor that is not in a reciprocal jurisdiction recognizes and accepts, as specified by the commissioner in regulation, the group capital calculation as the world-wide group capital assessment for United States insurance groups who operate in that jurisdiction.
(v) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 83-6-5(5)(b)(iii) and 83-6-5(5)(b)(iv), a lead state commissioner shall require the group capital calculation for United States operations of any non-United States based insurance holding company system where, after any necessary consultation with other supervisors or officials, it is deemed appropriate by the lead state commissioner for prudential oversight and solvency monitoring purposes or for ensuring the competitiveness of the insurance marketplace.
(vi) Notwithstanding the exemptions from filing the group capital calculation stated in Section 83-6-5(5)(b)(i) through 83-6-5(5)(b)(iv), the lead state commissioner has the discretion to exempt the ultimate controlling person from filing the annual group capital calculation or to accept a limited group capital filing or report in accordance with criteria as specified by the commissioner in regulation.
(vii) If the lead state commissioner determines that an insurance holding company system no longer meets one or more of the requirements for an exemption from filing the group capital calculation under this section, the insurance holding company system shall file the group capital calculation at the next annual filing date unless given an extension by the lead state commissioner based on reasonable grounds shown.
(c) Liquidity Stress Test. The ultimate controlling person of every insurer subject to registration and also scoped into the NAIC liquidity stress test framework shall file the results of a specific year's liquidity stress test. The filing shall be made to the lead state insurance commissioner of the insurance holding company system as determined by the procedures within the Financial Analysis Handbook adopted by the NAIC:
(i) The NAIC liquidity stress test framework includes scope criteria applicable to a specific data year. These scope criteria are reviewed at least annually by the Financial Stability Task Force or its successor. Any change to the NAIC liquidity stress test framework or to the data year for which the scope criteria are to be measured shall be effective on January 1 of the year following the calendar year when such changes are adopted. Insurers meeting at least one (1) threshold of the scope criteria are considered scoped into the NAIC liquidity stress test framework for the specified data year unless the lead state insurance commissioner, in consultation with the NAIC Financial Stability Task Force or its successor, determines the insurer should not be scoped into the framework for that data year. Similarly, insurers that do not trigger at least one (1) threshold of the scope criteria are considered scoped out of the NAIC liquidity stress test framework for the specified data year, unless the lead state insurance commissioner, in consultation with the NAIC Financial Stability Task Force or its successor, determines the insurer should be scoped into the framework for that data year. Regulators wish to avoid having insurers scoped in and out of the NAIC liquidity stress test framework on a frequent basis. The lead state insurance commissioner, in consultation with the Financial Stability Task Force or its successor, shall assess this concern as part of the determination for an insurer.
(ii) The performance of, and filing of the results from, a specific year's liquidity stress test shall comply with the NAIC liquidity stress test framework's instructions and reporting templates for that year and any lead state insurance commissioner determinations, in consultation with the Financial Stability Task Force or its successor, provided within the framework.
(6) The failure to file a registration statement or any summary of the registration state or enterprise risk filing required by this section within the time specified for filing shall be a violation of this section.
SECTION 4. Section 83-6-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-6-7. No information need be disclosed on the registration statement filed pursuant to Section 83-6-5 if such information is not material for the purposes of Sections 83-6-3 through 83-6-19. 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 (˝ of 1%) or less of an insurer’s admitted assets as of the thirty-first day of December next preceding are not to be deemed material for purposes of Sections 83-6-3 through 83-6-19. The definition of materiality provided in this section shall not apply for purposes of the group capital calculation or the liquidity stress test framework.
SECTION 5. Section 83-6-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-6-21. (1) Transactions within a holding company system to which an insurer subject to registration is a party shall be subject to the following standards:
(a) The terms shall be fair and reasonable;
(b) Agreements for cost-sharing services and management shall include such provisions as required by rule and regulation issued by the commissioner;
(c) Charges or fees for services performed shall be reasonable;
(d) Expenses incurred and payment received shall be allocated to the insurer in conformity with customary insurance accounting practices consistently applied;
(e) The books, accounts and records of each party to all such transactions shall be so maintained as to clearly and accurately disclose the nature and details of the transactions including such accounting information as is necessary to support the reasonableness of the charges or fees to the respective parties; and
(f) The insurer's surplus as regards policyholders following any dividends or distributions to shareholder affiliates shall be reasonable in relation to the insurer's outstanding liabilities and adequate to its financial needs.
(g) If an insurer subject to this act is deemed by the commissioner to be in a hazardous financial condition as defined by 19 Miss. Admin. Code, Part 1, Chapter 39: Define Standards and Commissioner's Authority for Companies Deemed to be in Hazardous Financial Condition Regulation or a condition that would be grounds for supervision, conservation or a delinquency proceeding, then the commissioner may require the insurer to secure and maintain either a deposit, held by the commissioner, or a bond, as determined by the insurer at the insurer's discretion, for the protection of the insurer for the duration of the contract(s) or agreement(s), or the existence of the condition for which the commissioner required the deposit or the bond.
In determining whether a deposit or a bond is required, the commissioner should consider whether concerns exist with respect to the affiliated person's ability to fulfill the contract(s) or agreement(s) if the insurer were to be put into liquidation. Once the insurer is deemed to be in a hazardous financial condition or a condition that would be grounds for supervision, conservation or a delinquency proceeding, and a deposit or bond is necessary, the commissioner has discretion to determine the amount of the deposit or bond, not to exceed the value of the contract(s) or agreement(s) in any one (1) year, and whether such deposit or bond should be required for a single contract, multiple contracts or a contract only with a specific person(s);
(h) All records and data of the insurer held by an affiliate are and remain the property of the insurer, are subject to control of the insurer, are identifiable, and are segregated or readily capable of segregation, at no additional cost to the insurer, from all other persons' records and data. This includes all records and data that are otherwise the property of the insurer, in whatever form maintained, including, but not limited to, claims and claim files, policyholder lists, application files, litigation files, premium records, rate books, underwriting manuals, personnel records, financial records or similar records within the possession, custody or control of the affiliate. At the request of the insurer, the affiliate shall provide that the receiver can obtain a complete set of all records of any type that pertain to the insurer's business; obtain access to the operating systems on which the data is maintained; obtain the software that runs those systems either through assumption of licensing agreements or otherwise; and restrict the use of the data by the affiliate if it is not operating the insurer's business. The affiliate shall provide a waiver of any landlord lien or other encumbrance to give the insurer access to all records and data in the event of the affiliate's default under a lease or other agreement; and
(i) Premiums or other funds belonging to the insurer that are collected by or held by an affiliate are the exclusive property of the insurer and are subject to the control of the insurer. Any right of offset in the event an insurer is placed into receivership shall be subject to the Insurers Rehabilitation and Liquidation Act, Sections 83-24-1 through 83-24-119.
(2) The following transactions involving a domestic insurer and any person in its holding company system, including amendments or modifications of affiliate agreements previously filed pursuant to this section, which are subject to any materiality standards contained in paragraphs (a) through (i) of this subsection, shall not be entered into unless the insurer has notified the commissioner in writing of its intention to enter into such transaction at least thirty (30) days prior thereto, or such shorter period as the commissioner may permit, and the commissioner has not disapproved it within such period. The notice for amendments or modifications shall include the reasons for the change and the financial impact on the domestic insurer. Informal notice shall be reported within thirty (30) days after a termination of a previously filed agreement to the commissioner for determination of the type of filing required, if any.
(a)
Sales, purchases, exchanges, loans or extension of credit, guarantees or
investments provided such transactions are equal to or exceed: (i) with
respect to nonlife insurers, the lesser of three percent (3%) of the insurer's
admitted assets or twenty-five percent (25%) of surplus as regards policyholders;
and (ii) with respect to life insurers, three percent (3%) of the insurer's
admitted assets; each as of December 31 next preceding * * *;
(b) Loans or extensions of credit to any person who is not an affiliate, where the insurer makes such loans or extension of credit with the agreement or understanding that the proceeds of such transactions, in whole or in substantial part, are to be used to make loans or extensions of credit to, to purchase assets of or to make investments in, any affiliate of the insurer making such loans or extensions of credit provided such transactions are equal to or exceed: (i) with respect to nonlife insurers, the lesser of three percent (3%) of the insurer's admitted assets or twenty-five percent (25%) of surplus as regards policyholders; and (ii) with respect to life insurers, three percent (3%) of the insurer's admitted assets; each as of December 31 next preceding;
(c) Reinsurance agreements or modifications thereto, including (i) all reinsurance pooling agreements; and (ii) agreements in which the reinsurance premium or a change in the insurer's liabilities equals or exceeds five percent (5%) of the insurer's surplus as regards policyholders, as of December 31 next preceding, including those agreements which may require as consideration the transfer of assets from an insurer to a nonaffiliate, if an agreement or understanding exists between the insurer and nonaffiliate that any portion of such assets will be transferred to one or more affiliates of the insurer;
(d) All management agreements that would place control of the insurer outside of the insurance holding company system;
(e) All service contracts or cost-sharing arrangements wherein the annual aggregate cost to the insurer would equal or exceed the amounts specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection;
(f) All tax allocation agreements;
(g) Guarantees when made by a domestic insurer; provided, however, that a guarantee which is quantifiable as to amount is not subject to the notice requirements of this paragraph unless it exceeds the lesser of one-half of one percent (.5%) of the insurer's admitted assets or ten percent (10%) of surplus as regards policyholders as of December 31 next preceding. Further, all guarantees which are not quantifiable as to amounts are subject to the notice requirements of this paragraph;
(h) Direct or indirect acquisitions or investments in a person that controls the insurer or in an affiliate of the insurer in an amount which, together with its present holdings in such investments, exceeds two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the insurer's surplus as to policyholders. Direct or indirect acquisitions or investments in subsidiaries acquired pursuant to Section 83-6-2, or in nonsubsidiary insurance affiliates that are subject to the provisions of this chapter, are exempt from this requirement; and
(i) Any material transactions, specified by regulation, which the commissioner determines may adversely affect the interests of the insurer's policyholders.
Nothing in this subsection (2) shall be determined to authorize or permit any transactions which, in the case of an insurer not a member of the same insurance holding company system, would be otherwise contrary to law.
(3) A domestic insurer shall not enter into transactions which are part of a plan or series of like transactions with persons within the holding company system if the purpose of those separate transactions is to avoid the statutory threshold amount and avoid the review that would occur otherwise. If the commissioner determines that such separate transactions were entered into over any twelve-month period for such purpose, he may exercise his authority under Section 83-6-35.
(4) The commissioner, in reviewing transactions pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, shall consider whether the transactions comply with the standards set forth in subsection (1) of this section and whether they may adversely affect the interests of policyholders.
(5) The commissioner shall be notified within thirty (30) days of any investment of the domestic insurer in any one (1) corporation if the total investment in such corporation by the insurance holding company system exceeds ten percent (10%) of such corporation's voting securities.
(6) Insurance companies within a holding company system shall not sell or exchange their stock among each other unless the companies have obtained stock company permits before conducting such transactions.
(7) Dividends and other distributions. No domestic insurer shall pay any extraordinary dividend or make any other extraordinary distribution to its shareholders until thirty (30) days after the commissioner has received notice of the declaration thereof and has not within that period disapproved the payment, or until the commissioner has approved the payment within the thirty-day period. For purposes of this subsection, an extraordinary dividend or distribution includes any dividend or distribution of cash or other property, whose fair market value together with that of other dividends or distributions made within the preceding twelve (12) months exceeds the lesser of:
(a) Ten percent (10%) of the insurer's surplus as regards policyholders as of the 31st day of December next preceding; or
(b) The net gain from operations of the insurer, if the insurer is a life insurer, or the net income, if the insurer is not a life insurer, not including realized capital gains, for the twelve-month period ending the 31st day of December next preceding, but shall not include pro rata distributions of any class of the insurer's own securities.
In determining whether a dividend or distribution is extraordinary, an insurer other than a life insurer may carry forward net income from the previous two (2) calendar years that has not already been paid out as dividends. This carry-forward shall be computed by taking the net income from the second and third preceding calendar years, not including realized capital gains, less dividends paid in the second and immediate preceding calendar years. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insurer may declare an extraordinary dividend or distribution which is conditional upon the commissioner's approval, and the declaration shall confer no rights upon shareholders until the commissioner has approved the payment of the dividend or distribution, or the commissioner has not disapproved payment within the thirty-day period referred to above.
(8) Supervision, seizure, conservatorship or receivership proceedings. (a) Any affiliate that is party to an agreement or contract with a domestic insurer that is subject to paragraph (d) of subsection (2) shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any supervision, seizure, conservatorship or receivership proceedings against the insurer and to the authority of any supervisor, conservator, rehabilitator or liquidator for the insurer appointed pursuant to supervision and receivership acts for the purpose of interpreting, enforcing and overseeing the affiliate's obligations under the agreement or contract to perform services for the insurer that:
(i) Are an integral part of the insurer's operations, including, but not limited to, management, administrative, accounting, data processing, marketing, underwriting, claims handling, investment or any other similar functions; or
(ii) The commissioner may require that an agreement or contract pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection (2) for the provision of services described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) above specify that the affiliate consents to the jurisdiction as set forth in this subsection (8).
SECTION 6. Section 83-6-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-6-29. (1) Documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the Department of Insurance that are obtained by or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person during an examination or investigation made pursuant to Section 83-6-27 and all information reported pursuant to Sections 83-6-24(2)(l) and (m), 83-6-3, 83-6-5 and 83-6-21 shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to the Mississippi Public Records Act, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the commissioner is authorized to use the documents, materials or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner's official duties. The commissioner shall not otherwise make the documents, materials or other information public without the prior written consent of the insurer 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 interest of policyholders, shareholders or the public will be served by the publication thereof, in which event the commissioner may publish all or any part in such manner as may be deemed appropriate.
(a) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the Department of Insurance pursuant to Section 83-6-5(5)(b), the commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of the group capital calculation and group capital ratio produced within the calculation and any group capital information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board or any United States group wide supervisor.
(b) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the Department of Insurance pursuant to Section 83-6-5(5)(c), the commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of the liquidity stress test results and supporting disclosures and any liquidity stress test information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and non-United States group wide supervisors.
(2) Neither the commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner or with whom such documents, materials or other information are shared pursuant to this section shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials or information subject to subsection (1) of this section.
(3) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner's duties, the commissioner:
(a) May share documents, materials or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials or information subject to subsection (1) of this section, with other state, federal and international regulatory agencies, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state, federal and international law enforcement authorities, provided that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material or other information, and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the commissioner may only share confidential and privileged documents, material or information reported pursuant to Section 83-6-5(5) with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection (1) of this section and who have agreed in writing not to disclose such information.
(c) 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 document, material 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 document, material or information.
(d) Shall enter into written agreements with the NAIC governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this section consistent with this subsection that shall:
(i) Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this section, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal or international regulators;
(ii) Specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this section remains with the commissioner and the NAIC's use of the information is subject to the direction of the commissioner;
(iii) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the NAIC pursuant to this section is subject to a request or subpoena to the NAIC for disclosure or production; and
(iv) 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 section.
(4) The sharing of information by the commissioner pursuant to this section 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 section.
(5) 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 subsection (3) of this section.
(6) Documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the NAIC pursuant to this section shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to the Mississippi Public Records Act, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.
(7) The group capital calculations and resulting group capital ratio required under Section 83-6-5(b) and the liquidity stress test along with its results and supporting disclosures required under Section 83-6-5(5)(c) are regulatory tools for assessing group risks and capital adequacy and group liquidity risks, respectively, and are not intended as a means to rank insurers or insurance holding company systems generally. Therefore, except as otherwise may be required under the provisions of this act, the making, publishing, disseminating, circulating or placing before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminating, circulating or placing before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over any radio or television station or any electronic means of communication available to the public, or in any other way as an advertisement, announcement, or statement containing a representation or statement with regard to the group capital calculation, group capital ratio, the liquidity stress test results, or supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test of any insurer or any insurer group, or of any component derived in the calculation by any insurer, broker, or other person engaged in any manner in the insurance business would be misleading and is therefore prohibited; provided, however, that if any materially false statement with respect to the group capital calculation, resulting group capital ratio, an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer's or insurance group's group capital calculation or resulting group capital ratio, liquidity stress test result, supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test, or an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer's or insurance group's liquidity stress test result or supporting disclosures is published in any written publication and the insurer is able to demonstrate to the commissioner with substantial proof the falsity of such statement or the inappropriateness, as the case may be, then the insurer may publish announcements in a written publication if the sole purpose of the announcement is to rebut the materially false statement.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.