(a) Documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the Division of Banking, Insurance and Financial Regulations that are obtained by or disclosed to the Commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to section 327 and all information reported or provided to the Division Banking, Insurance and Financial Regulation pursuant to section 323(b)(12) and (13), section 325, section 326 and section 329 are confidential by law and privileged, are not subject to examination by the public, are not subject to subpoena, and are not subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the Commissioner may 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 may 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 who are affected thereby notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interest of policyholders shareholders or the public is served by the publication thereof, in which event the Commissioner may publish all or any part in such manner as may be considered appropriate.
(b) Neither the Commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials or other information while acting under the authority of the Commissioner or with whom the documents, materials or other information are shared, are permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (a).
(c) In order to assist in the performance of the Commissioner’s duties:
(1) The Commissioner may share documents, materials or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials or information subject to subsection (a), with other state, federal and international regulatory agencies, with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with local, state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory college described in section 328. if 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), the Commissioner may share confidential and privileged documents, material, or information reported pursuant to section 325(l) only with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection (a) and who have agreed in writing not to disclose such information.
(3) The Commissioner may receive documents, materials or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials or information from the NAIC 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 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 information; and
(4) The Commissioner shall enter into written agreements with the NAIC governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this chapter consistent with this subsection that must:
(A) specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal or international regulators;
(B) specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries remains with the Commissioner and the NAIC’s use of the information is subject to the direction of the Commissioner;
(C) require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the NAIC is subject to a request or subpoena to the NAIC for disclosure or production; and
(D) require the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries.
(d) The sharing of information by the Commissioner does not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the Commissioner is solely responsible for the administration, execution and enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
(e) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials or information may occur as a result of disclosure to the Commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (c).
(f) Documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the NAIC are confidential by law and privileged, are not subject to examination by the public, are not subject to subpoena, and are not subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.