(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a copy of every form of proxy or written consent or authorization for use at any meeting or proceeding of shareholders or stockholders of any domestic insurer to evidence authority to cast the vote of any shareholder or stockholder, or to record the consent or the authorization of any shareholder or stockholder to any action of the insurer, and a copy of every solicitation, announcement, or advertisement used to obtain, or to influence any shareholder or stockholder to sign, any proxy, or written consent or authorization shall be filed with the commissioner, accompanied by a filing fee of one hundred thirty-six dollars ($136), by the person intending to use, issue, publish, or circulate the document. This document shall not be used, issued, published, or circulated before a period of 10 days following the date of its filing, or any shorter period that may be designated by the commissioner, has elapsed. Within the 10-day or a shorter period, the commissioner may disapprove of any document filed with him or her pursuant to this section, stating his or her reasons therefor in writing, in which case, the document shall not be used, issued, published, or circulated.
(b) Any person who fails to make the filing required by this section and who thereafter uses any document required to be filed, uses the document before it has been filed with the commissioner for the period required, or uses the document after receiving written notice that the document has been disapproved by the commissioner is guilty of a misdemeanor. It shall be unlawful to use any proxy or consent obtained in violation of this section. The superior court of the State of California in and for the county in which is located the principal place of business of the insurer shall have jurisdiction to enforce this section and the regulations promulgated pursuant to this section, and to grant appropriate relief upon the verified petition of the commissioner, the domestic insurer, or any of its shareholders or stockholders.
(c) The purposes of this section are: to ensure that the shareholders, stockholders, or other persons entitled to vote or give written consents or authorizations are provided with adequate and accurate information regarding the affairs of the insurers in which they have interests, the interests of those soliciting proxies or written consents or authorizations and of those upon whose behalf the solicitations are made, and the matters as to which proxies, written consents, or authorizations are solicited; and to prevent fraud or deception in connection with proxies, proxy statements, or other proxy solicitations. The commissioner may make rules and regulations in furtherance of the purposes of this section. These rules and regulations may differ as to different classes and types of insurers.
(d) This section shall not apply to any domestic insurer having fewer than 100 shareholders or stockholders and shall not apply to any domestic insurer if 95 percent or more of its stock is owned or controlled by a parent or an affiliated insurer and the remaining shares of stock are owned by fewer than 500 shareholders or stockholders. Any domestic insurer that files with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission forms of proxies, consents, and authorizations complying with the requirements of the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 78a et seq.) and the amendments thereto and the applicable regulations thereunder, is exempt from this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 534, Sec. 25. (AB 1699) Effective January 1, 2018.)