17B:18-42 Certificate of authority; when issuable.
17B:18-42. When satisfied that a domestic insurer has complied with all the requirements of this code to entitle it to engage in business and that the proposed methods of operation of the insurer are not such as would render its operation hazardous to the public or its policyholders, the commissioner shall issue to the insurer a certificate authorizing it to commence business, specifying in the certificate the particular kind or kinds of insurance it is authorized to transact. The commissioner may refuse to issue a certificate of authority if he finds that any of the insurer's directors or officers has been convicted of a crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or like moral turpitude or that said persons are not persons of good character and integrity. Any applicant for a license pursuant to this section and any officer, director, partner or owner of a controlling interest of a corporation or partnership for licensure shall submit to the commissioner the applicant's name, address, fingerprints and written consent for a criminal history record background check to be performed. The commissioner is authorized to exchange fingerprint data with and receive criminal history record information from the State Bureau of Identification in the Division of State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation consistent with applicable State and federal laws, rules and regulations, for the purposes of facilitating determinations concerning licensure eligibility. The applicant shall bear the cost for the criminal history record background check, including all costs of administering and processing the check. The Division of State Police shall promptly notify the commissioner in the event a current holder of a license or prospective applicant, who was the subject of a criminal history record background check pursuant to this section, is arrested for a crime or offense in this State after the date the background check was performed. No insurer shall transact the business for which it is incorporated until it has received the certificate from the commissioner. If any insurer fails to obtain the certificate of authority within one year from the date of the certificate of the commissioner to its certificate of incorporation, as provided in section 17B:18-5, and such failure is the result of its lack of due diligence in meeting the requirements therefor, the insurer shall, ipso facto, be dissolved and its certificate of incorporation be null and void.
L.1971, c.144; amended 2003, c.199, s.14.