(1) Except pursuant to the provisions of article 5 of this title, no foreign or domestic insurance company shall transact any insurance business in this state, unless it first procures from the commissioner a certificate of authority stating that the requirements of the laws of this state have been complied with and authorizing it to do business. The certificate of authority shall expire on June 30 each year and shall be renewed annually if the company has continued to comply with the laws of the state.
Except as provided by subsection (3) of this section, no certificate of authority totransact any kind of insurance business in this state shall be issued or renewed to any company which is owned, or financially controlled in whole or in part, by another state of the United States, or by a foreign government, or by any political subdivision, instrumentality, or agency of either, unless such company was so owned, controlled, or constituted prior to January 1, 1955, and also authorized to do business in this state on or prior to January 1, 1955.
(a) The ownership or financial control, in part, of any insurer by any state of the United States, or by a foreign government, or by any political subdivision, instrumentality, or agency of either shall not restrict the commissioner from issuing, renewing, or continuing in effect the license of that insurer to transact in this state the kinds of insurance business for which that insurer is otherwise qualified under the provisions of this title and under its charter, if the insurer has satisfied the commissioner that:
It is not subject to any form of subsidy;
It does not engage in practices that discriminate in violation of section 24-34-402,C.R.S.;
The ownership or financial control will not create the presence of any sovereignimmunity in the insurer;
Appropriate measures and controls exist to avoid security problems resulting fromthe insurer's access to confidential information and data of its insured; and
The ownership or financial control will not result in substantial or undue influencebeing asserted over the insurer.
(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) are a clarification of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section and not a substantive change in the provisions of said subsection (2) as said subsection (2) existed prior to March 11, 1991.
(4) (a) The commissioner may order an insurer to pay restitution to a person, if, after notice to the insurer and after a hearing held in accordance with sections 24-4-104 and 24-4-105, C.R.S., the commissioner finds that the insurer has violated this title or that the insurer is financially responsible for the unfair business practices of an insurance producer pursuant to section 10-3-131.
As used in this subsection (4), "insurance producer" shall have the same meaning asset forth in section 10-2-103 (6).
For the purposes of this subsection (4), "restitution" means benefits or moneys oweddue to the regulated entity's violation of this title, including, but not limited to, costs and expenses for lost time from work and attorney fees.
Source: L. 13: p. 334, § 21(1). C.L. § 2491. CSA: C. 87, § 19. L. 49: p. 472, § 18. CRS 53: § 72-1-17. C.R.S. 1963: § 72-1-17. L. 91: (2) amended and (3) added, p. 1239, § 1, effective March 11. L. 92: (1) amended, p. 1536, § 25, effective July 1. L. 2008: (4) added, p. 585, § 2, effective August 5; (4)(c) amended, p. 2174, § 6, effective August 5.
Cross references: For acts which constitute transacting business by an unauthorized insurer, see § 10-3-903.