An Act To Clarify the Status of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers under the Maine Insurance Code
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1486
Committee: Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: FOLEY
Amends: 24-A MRSA §216, 24-A MRSA §601, 24-A MRSA §1420-M

Legislative Document
No. 1486
H.P. 1025
House of Representatives, April 19, 2017
An Act To Clarify the Status of the Financial Industry Regulatory 
Authority and the National Association of Registered Agents and 
Brokers under the Maine Insurance Code
Submitted by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation pursuant to Joint 
Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Insurance and Financial Services suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative FOLEY of Wells.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  24-A MRSA §216, sub-§5, as repealed and replaced by PL 2013, c. 238, 
Pt. A, §1 and affected by §34, is amended to read: 
5.    In order to assist the superintendent in the regulation of insurers in this State, it is 
the duty of the superintendent to maintain as confidential a document or information 
received from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or International 
Association of Insurance Supervisors, public officials of other jurisdictions and members 
of supervisory colleges in which the superintendent participates pursuant to section 222, 
subsection 7-B, agencies of the Federal Government, the Financial Industry Regulatory 
Authority, the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers or political 
subdivisions or other agencies of this State, if the document or the information has been 
provided to the superintendent with notice that it is confidential under the laws of the 
jurisdiction that is the source of the document or information. 
A.  Any information furnished pursuant to this subsection by or to the superintendent 
that has been designated confidential by the official, agency or other entity furnishing 
the information remains the property of the agency furnishing the information and 
must be held as confidential by the recipient of the information, except as authorized 
by the official, agency or other entity furnishing the information to the 
superintendent, with prior notice to interested parties and consistent with other 
applicable laws.  The authority of the superintendent, pursuant to paragraph B, to 
permit further disclosure to a 3rd party or to the public of information shared by the 
superintendent is subject to the same requirements and conditions that apply if the 
superintendent discloses the information directly to a 3rd party or to the public. 
B.  The superintendent may share information, including otherwise confidential 
information, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or 
International Association of Insurance Supervisors, public officials of other 
jurisdictions and members of supervisory colleges in which the superintendent 
participates pursuant to section 222, subsection 7-B, agencies of the Federal 
Government, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the National Association 
of Registered Agents and Brokers or political subdivisions or other agencies of this 
State, if the recipient of the information agrees to maintain the same level of 
confidentiality as is available under Maine law and has demonstrated that it has the 
legal authority to do so. 
C.  The superintendent may enter into one or more written agreements with the 
National Association of Insurance Commissioners governing sharing and using 
information under this subsection that: 
(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 paragraph, including procedures 
and protocols for sharing by the National Association of Insurance 
Commissioners with other state, federal or international insurance regulators; 
(2)  Specify that ownership of information shared with the National Association 
of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this 
paragraph remains with the superintendent and that the use of information by the 
National Association of Insurance Commissioners is subject to the direction of 
the superintendent; 
(3)  Require prompt notice to be given by the National Association of Insurance 
Commissioners to any insurer whose confidential information is in the possession 
of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners pursuant to this 
paragraph when that information is the subject of a request or subpoena 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 
paragraph. 
D.  This subsection does not alter prohibitions or restrictions applicable to ex parte 
contacts in the course of an adjudicatory proceeding in which a state agency is a 
party. 
E.  For purposes of this subsection, "other agencies of this State" includes bureau 
personnel and consultants designated as serving in an advocacy capacity in an 
adjudicatory proceeding before the superintendent. 
Sec. 2.  24-A MRSA §601, sub-§5, ¶E, as corrected by RR 2003, c. 1, §20, is 
amended to read: 
E.  Issuance fee for original nonresident producer license or for a nonresident 
producer acting pursuant to a national nonresident producer license issued through 
the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers              $70; 
Appointment of such producer, each insurer, health maintenance organization, 
fraternal benefit society, nonprofit hospital or medical service organization, viatical 
settlement provider or risk retention group  
           $70; 
Biennial fee for appointment, each insurer, health maintenance organization, fraternal 
benefit society, nonprofit hospital or medical service organization, viatical settlement 
provider or risk retention group             $70; 
Sec. 3.  24-A MRSA §1420-M, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 259, §24, is 
amended to read: 
1.  Appointment.  An insurance producer, including a nonresident producer acting 
pursuant to a national nonresident producer license issued through the National 
Association of Registered Agents and Brokers, may not act as an agent of an insurer 
unless the insurance producer becomes an appointed agent of that insurer.  An insurance 
producer who is not acting as an agent of an insurer is not required to become appointed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires the Superintendent of Insurance to maintain as confidential a 
document or information received from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or 
the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers if the document or 
information has been provided to the superintendent with notice that it is confidential 
under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document or information. 
The bill authorizes the Bureau of Insurance to enter into agreements for the sharing of 
otherwise confidential information with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and 
the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers if the recipient of the 
information agrees to maintain the same level of confidentiality as is available under 
Maine law and has demonstrated that it has the legal authority to do so.  The bill sets 
license fees for nonresidents acting in this State as insurance producers pursuant to a 
national nonresident insurance producer license issued by the National Association of 
Registered Agents and Brokers and requires them to be appointed by the insurers they 
represent according to the procedures otherwise applicable to appointment of producers, 
including the payment of appointment fees.