Confidentiality of Information and Documents Obtained During Examinations or Investigations; Sharing Certain Information; Not Delegation of Regulatory Authority or Rule Making; Responsibility for Enforcement

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  2. Georgia Code
  3. Insurance
  4. Insurance Holding Company Systems
  5. General Provisions
  6. Confidentiality of Information and Documents Obtained During Examinations or Investigations; Sharing Certain Information; Not Delegation of Regulatory Authority or Rule Making; Responsibility for Enforcement

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  1. Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the department that are obtained by or disclosed to the Commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to Code Section 33-13-6 and all information reported or provided to the department pursuant to paragraphs (12) and (13) of subsection (b) of Code Section 33-13-3 and Code Sections 33-13-4, 33-13-5, and 33-13-7.1 shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to public disclosure under Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50, 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 that 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.
  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 article shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or other information subject to subsection (a) of this Code section.
  3. In order to assist in the performance of the Commissioner's duties, the Commissioner:
    1. May share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information subject to subsection (a) of this Code section, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory college described in Code Section 33-13-7, 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;
    2. Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection, may only share confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information reported pursuant to subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4 with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection (a) of this Code section and who have agreed in writing not to disclose such information;
    3. May receive documents, materials, or other information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners 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 other 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 other information; and
    4. Shall enter into written agreements with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this article consistent with this subsection that shall:
      1. Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this article, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies;
      2. Specify that ownership of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this article remains with the Commissioner and that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' use of the information is subject to the direction of the Commissioner;
      3. Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners pursuant to this article is subject to a request or subpoena to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for disclosure or production; and
      4. Require the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this article.
  4. The sharing of information by the Commissioner pursuant to this article shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rule making, and the Commissioner is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
  5. No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or other information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the Commissioner under this Code section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (c) of this Code section.
  6. Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners pursuant to this article shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to the open records laws, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.

(Code 1933, § 56-3407, enacted by Ga. L. 1970, p. 257, § 1; Code 1981, §33-13-7; Code 1981, §33-13-8, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2013, p. 802, § 1/HB 312; Ga. L. 2015, p. 608, § 3/SB 108; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1045, § 3/HB 491.)

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, inserted "or provided to the department" in the middle and substituted "Code Section 33-13-3 and Code Sections 33-13-4, 33-13-5, and 33-13-7.1" for "Code Section 33-13-3, Code Section 33-13-4, and Code Section 33-13-5".

Cross references.

- Privileged communications generally, § 24-5-506.

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2013, p. 802, § 1/HB 312, effective July 1, 2013, redesignated former Code Section 33-13-8 as present Code Section 33-13-9.

Administrative Rules and Regulations.

- Insurance holding company regulations, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Commissioner of Insurance, Chapter 120-2-23.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Cited in Georgia Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 161 Ga. App. 276, 288 S.E.2d 263 (1982).


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