Mo. Rev. Stat. § 382.230 — MO Code / Chapter 382 / Section 382.230
382.230 Certain information confidential, exception — private civil action, ...
Status: in_force

382.230. Certain information confidential, exception — private civil action, director not required to testify — permissible acts of the director — misleading or materially false statements, certain information, remedy. — 1. (1) All information, documents and copies thereof in the possession or control of the director that are obtained by or disclosed to the director or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made under section 382.220 and all information reported or provided to the director under subdivisions (13) and (14) of subsection 1 of section 382.050 , sections 382.100 to 382.210 , and section 382.227 are considered proprietary and to contain trade secrets and shall be given confidential treatment and privileges; shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter 610 ; shall not be subject to subpoena; shall not be made public by the director, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or any other person, except to the chief insurance regulatory official of other states; and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible as evidence in any private civil action. However, the director is authorized to use the documents, materials, or other information in furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the director's official duties. The director 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 director, after giving the insurer and its affiliates who would be affected thereby, notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interests of policyholders, shareholders or the public will be served by the publication thereof, in which event the director may publish all or any part thereof in such manner as he or she may deem appropriate.

(2) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department of commerce and insurance under section 382.176 , the director shall maintain the confidentiality of the group capital calculation and group capital ratio produced within the calculation and any group capital information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board or any U.S. groupwide supervisor.

(3) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department of commerce and insurance under section 382.177 , the director shall maintain the confidentiality of the liquidity stress test results and supporting disclosures and any liquidity stress test information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and non-U.S. groupwide supervisors.

2. Neither the director nor any person who receives documents, materials, or other information while acting under the authority of the director or with whom such documents, materials, or other information is shared under sections 382.010 to 382.300 shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or other information subject to subsection 1 of this section.

3. In order to assist in the performance of the director's duties, the director:

(1) May share documents, materials, or other information including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information subject to subsection 1 of this section, including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, with other state, federal, and international financial regulatory agencies, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, with any third-party consultants designated by the director, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities including members of any supervisory college described in section 382.225 ; provided that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of such documents, materials, or other information, and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality;

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section and subdivision (1) of this subsection, may share confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information reported under section 382.175 only with the directors of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection 1 of this 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 information, including proprietary and trade secret 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 documents, materials, 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 a written agreement with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and any third-party consultant designated by the director governing sharing and use of information provided under sections 382.010 to 382.300 consistent with this subsection that shall:

(a) Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant designated by the director under sections 382.010 to 382.300 including procedures and protocols for sharing by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners with other state, federal, and international regulators. The agreement shall provide that the recipient agrees, in writing, to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information and has verified, also in writing, the legal authority to maintain such confidentiality;

(b) Specify that ownership of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant as designated by the director under sections 382.010 to 382.300 remains with the director and that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' or third-party consultant's, as designated by the director, use of such information is subject to the direction of the director;

(c) Excluding documents, material, or information reported pursuant to section 382.177 , prohibit the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the director from storing the information shared under sections 382.010 to 382.300 in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed;

(d) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant designated by the director under sections 382.010 to 382.300 is subject to a request or subpoena to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant designated by the director, for disclosure or production;

(e) Require the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or third-party consultant as designated by the director to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or third-party consultant as designated by the director may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant designated by the director, and its affiliates and subsidiaries under sections 382.010 to 382.300 ; and

(f) For documents, material, or information reporting under section 382.177 , in the case of an agreement involving a third-party consultant designated by the director, provide for notification of the identity of the consultant to the applicable insurers.

4. The sharing of information by the director under sections 382.010 to 382.300 shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory or rulemaking authority, and the director is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions of sections 382.010 to 382.300 .

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 of such documents, materials, or other information to the director under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in sections 382.010 to 382.300 .

6. Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant designated by the director under sections 382.010 to 382.300 shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to disclosure under chapter 610 , shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.

7. The group capital calculation and resulting group capital ratio required under section 382.176 and the liquidity stress test along with its results and supporting disclosures required under section 382.177 are regulatory tools for assessing group risks and capital adequacy and group liquidity risks, respectively, and are not intended as a means to rank insurers or insurance holding company systems generally. Therefore, except as otherwise may be required under sections 382.010 to 382.300 , the making, publishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, or poster, or over any radio or television station or any electronic means of communication available to the public, or in any other way as an advertisement, announcement, or statement containing a representation or statement with regard to the group capital calculation, group capital ratio, the liquidity stress test results, or supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test of any insurer or any insurer group, or of any component derived in the calculation by any insurer, broker, or other person engaged in any manner in the insurance business, would be misleading and is therefore prohibited; provided, however, that if any materially false statement with respect to the group capital calculation, resulting group capital ratio, an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer's or insurance group's group capital calculation or resulting group capital ratio, liquidity stress test result, supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test, or an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer's or insurance group's liquidity stress test result or supporting disclosures is published in any written publication and the insurer is able to demonstrate to the director with substantial proof the falsity of such statement or the inappropriateness, as the case may be, then the insurer may publish announcements in a written publication if the sole purpose of the announcement is to rebut the materially false statement.

(L. 1971 S.B. 101 § 26, A.L. 1992 H.B. 1574, A.L. 2015 H.B. 50, A.L. 2019 S.B. 54, A.L. 2021 S.B. 6)