Section 21.06.140. Conduct of examination.

   (a) The director shall conduct the examination at the home office of a domestic, foreign, or Canadian insurer, or the United States branch office of an alien insurer, or in any of its branch or agency offices; or with respect to persons other than insurers, at the office or other place or places where the records are kept.
   (b) Every person being examined, or from whom information is sought, and its officers, employees, agents, and representatives shall provide to the director timely, convenient, and free access, at all reasonable hours at its office, the books, accounts, records, documents, files, information, assets, and matters in their possession or control relating to the subject of the examination, including all computer or other recordings relating to the property, assets, business, and affairs of the person being examined, and shall facilitate and aid the examination as far as it is in their power to do so, including providing to the director, at the expense of the person being examined, a copy of any document requested during the examination. The director may suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew a license or authority of a person engaging in the business of insurance or other business under the jurisdiction of the director if the person or an officer, director, employee, or agent of the person refuses to submit to examination or to comply with a reasonable written request of an examiner.
   (c) If the director finds financial or other records to be inadequate or inadequately kept or posted or if an insurer's financial records are not kept as required by the Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual currently approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners after the director has issued an order citing the inadequacy of the accounts and given a reasonable opportunity to complete or correct the accounting, the director may employ experts to rewrite, post, or balance them at the expense of the person being examined.
   (d) When conducting an examination under this section, the director may retain attorneys, appraisers, independent actuaries, independent certified public accountants, or other professionals and specialists as examiners, the reasonable cost of which shall be paid by the person being examined under AS 21.06.160(a).
   (e) As far as practical the director shall conduct the examination of a foreign or alien insurer in cooperation with the insurance supervisory officials of other states in which the insurer transacts business, and for this purpose the director may participate in joint examinations of insurers or be represented at an examination by an examiner of another state.
   (f) In conducting an examination under this section, the examiner shall observe at a minimum those guidelines and procedures set out in the most recent edition of the Financial Condition Examiners Handbook and the Market Regulation Handbook approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that are consistent with this title.
   (g) An examiner may not be appointed by the director if the examiner, either directly or indirectly, has a conflict of interest or is affiliated with the management of or owns a pecuniary interest in a person subject to examination under this title. This section may not be construed to automatically preclude an examiner from being, in the ordinary course of business,
        (1) a policyholder or claimant under an insurance policy;
        (2) a grantor of a mortgage or similar instrument on the examiner's residence to a regulated entity if obtained under customary terms;
        (3) an investment owner in shares of regulated mutual fund companies; or
        (4) a settlor or beneficiary of a blind trust into which otherwise impermissible holdings have been placed.
   (h) The director may terminate or suspend an examination in order to pursue other legal or regulatory action under this title.
   (i) In a judicial or administrative proceeding a factual determination made in an examination report approved under AS 21.06.150(b)(1) is prima facie evidence of the fact.

Authorities

21.86.180

Notes

Recent Bills that will modify this

HB 372 OMNIBUS INSURANCE

Implemented As

3 AAC 21.730

References

AS 21.86.180 Examinations.

History

(Sec. 1 ch 120 SLA 1966; am Sec. 3 ch 50 SLA 1990; am Sec. 6 - 9 ch 67 SLA 1992; am Sec. 3 ch 41 SLA 2016)