(a)
(1) The incorporator or incorporators of a proposed domestic insurer incorporated under this subchapter, particularly §§ 23-69-101 — 23-69-103, 23-69-105 — 23-69-141, 23-69-143, and 23-69-149 — 23-69-156, shall deliver the duplicate originals of the articles of incorporation thereof to the Insurance Commissioner together with the filing fees therefor specified in § 23-61-401 or any companion rule and regulation of the commissioner.
(2) If the commissioner finds that the articles comply with law, he or she shall endorse his or her approval upon each set of the articles and issue his or her certificate of incorporation.
(3) He or she shall thereupon place one (1) set of the articles on file in his or her office, and return the other set of the articles, for the records of the corporation, together with his or her certificate of incorporation, to the incorporator or incorporators or to the representative or representatives of the incorporator or incorporators.
(b) If the commissioner finds that the proposed articles of incorporation do not comply with law or that the corporation, if organized, could not meet the requirements for a certificate of authority under § 23-63-202 or other provisions of the Arkansas Insurance Code, the commissioner shall refuse to approve the articles of incorporation and shall return the duplicate sets thereof to the incorporator or incorporators, together with a written statement of his or her reasons for the nonapproval. The filing fee paid pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall not be returnable.
(c) The corporation shall have legal existence as such upon the issuance of the certificate of incorporation by the commissioner, but it shall not transact business as an insurer until it has applied for and received from the commissioner a certificate of authority as provided by the Arkansas Insurance Code.
(d) A copy of the certificate of incorporation, certified by the commissioner, shall be admissible in all the courts of this state as prima facie evidence of due incorporation.