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WV Code § 33-33-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-5. Designation of Independent Certified Public Accountant

(a) Each insurer required by this article to file an annual audited financial report must, within sixty days after becoming subject to the requirements, register with the commissioner in writing the name and address of the independent certified public accountant or accounting firm retained to conduct the annual audit set forth in this article. Insurers not retaining an independent certified public accountant on the effective date of this article shall register the name and address of their retained independent certified public accountant not less than six months before the date when the first audited financial report is to be filed.(b) The insurer shall obtain a letter from the accountant, and file a copy with the commissioner stating that the accountant is aware of the provisions of this code and legislative rules promulgated pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that relate to accounting and financial matters and affirming that the accountant will express his or her opinion on the financial statements in terms of his or her conformity to the statutory accounting practices prescribed or otherwise permitted by the Insurance Commissioner specifying any exceptions as he or she may believe appropriate.(c) If an accountant who was the accountant for the immediately preceding filed audited financial report is dismissed or resigns, the insurer shall within five business days notify the commissioner of this event. The insurer shall also furnish the commissioner with a separate letter within ten business days of the above notification stating whether in the twenty-four months preceding the notification there were any disagreements with the former accountant on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the former accountant, would have caused him or her to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with his or her opinion. The disagreements required to be reported in response to this section include both those resolved to the former accountant's satisfaction and those not resolved to the former accountant's satisfaction. Disagreements contemplated by this section are those that occur at the decision-making level between personnel of the insurer responsible for presentation of its financial statements and personnel of the accounting firm responsible for rendering its report. The insurer shall also in writing request the former accountant to furnish it a letter addressed to the insurer stating whether the accountant agrees with the statements contained in the insurer's letter and, if not, stating the reasons for which he or she does not agree; and the insurer shall furnish the responsive letter from the former accountant to the commissioner together with its own.
WV Code § 33-33-7 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-7. Consolidated or Combined Audits

An insurer may make written application to the commissioner for approval to file audited consolidated or combined financial statements in lieu of separate annual audited financial statements if the insurer is part of a group of insurance companies which utilizes a pooling or one hundred percent reinsurance agreement that affects the solvency and integrity of the insurer's reserves and the insurer cedes all of its direct and assumed business to the pool. If an approval is granted, a columnar consolidating or combining worksheet shall be filed with the report incorporating the following:(1) Amounts shown on the consolidated or combined audited financial report shall be shown on the worksheet;(2) Amounts for each insurer subject to this section shall be stated separately;(3) Noninsurance operations may be shown on the worksheet on a combined or individual basis;(4) Explanations of consolidating and eliminating entries shall be included; and(5) A reconciliation shall be included of any differences between the amounts shown in the individual insurer columns of the worksheet and comparable amounts shown on the annual statements of the insurers.
WV Code § 33-33-8 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-8. Scope of Audit and Report of Independent Certified Public Accountant

Financial statements furnished pursuant to section four of this article shall be examined by the independent certified public accountant. The audit of the insurer's financial statements shall be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. In accordance with AU Section 319 of the professional standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, "Consideration of Internal Control in a Financial Statement Audit" or its replacement, the independent certified public accountant should obtain an understanding of internal control sufficient to plan the audit. To the extent required by AU 319, for those insurers required to file a management's report of internal control over financial reporting pursuant to section fifteen of this article, the independent certified public accountant should consider, as that term is defined in Statement on Auditing Standards No. 102, "Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Auditing Standards" or its replacement, the most recently available report in planning and performing the audit of the statutory financial statements. Consideration shall be given to the procedures illustrated in the Financial Condition Examiners Handbook promulgated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as the independent certified public accountant deems necessary.
WV Code § 33-33-9 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-9. Notification of Adverse Financial Condition

(a) The insurer required to furnish the annual audited financial report shall require the independent certified public accountant to report, in writing, within five business days to the board of directors or its audit committee any determination by the independent certified public accountant that the insurer has materially misstated its financial condition as reported to the commissioner as of the balance sheet date currently under audit or that the insurer does not meet the minimum capital and surplus requirements of this chapter as of that date. An insurer that has received a report pursuant to this subsection shall forward a copy of the report to the commissioner within five business days of receipt of the report and shall provide the independent certified public accountant making the report with evidence of the report being furnished to the commissioner. If the independent certified public accountant fails to receive the evidence within the required five business day period, the independent certified public accountant shall furnish to the commissioner a copy of his or her report within the next five business days.(b) No independent public accountant shall be liable in any manner to any person for any statement made in connection with subsection (a) of this section if the statement is made in good faith in compliance with said subsection.(c) If the accountant, subsequent to the date of the audited financial report filed pursuant to this article, becomes aware of facts which might have affected the report, the commissioner notes the obligation of the accountant to take action as prescribed in volume 1, section AU 561 of the professional standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
WV Code § 33-33-10 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-10. Communication of Internal Control Related Matters Noted in an Audit

(a) In addition to the annual audited financial report, each insurer shall furnish the commissioner with a written communication as to any unremediated material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting noted by the accountant during the audit. Such communication shall be prepared by the accountant within sixty days after the filing of the annual audited financial report, and shall contain a description of any unremediated material weakness, as the term material weakness is defined by Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 60, "Communication of Internal Control Related Matters Noted in an Audit" or its replacement, as of December 31 immediately preceding, so as to coincide with the audited financial report discussed in subsection (a), section three of this article, in the insurer's internal control over financial reporting noted by the accountant during the course of their audit of the financial statements. If no unremediated material weaknesses were noted, the communication should so state.(b) The insurer is required to provide a description of remedial actions taken or proposed to correct unremediated material weaknesses, if the actions are not described in the accountant's communication.
WV Code § 33-33-10a (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-10a. Accountant's Letter of Qualifications

The accountant shall furnish the insurer in connection with, and for inclusion in, the filing of the annual audited financial report, a letter stating:(1) That the accountant is independent with respect to the insurer and conforms to the standards of his or her profession as contained in the code of professional ethics and pronouncements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the rules of professional conduct of the West Virginia Board of Accountancy, or similar code;(2) The background and experience in general, and the experience in audits of insurers of the staff assigned to the engagement and whether each is an independent certified public accountant. Nothing within this article shall be construed as prohibiting the accountant from utilizing such staff as he or she deems appropriate where use is consistent with the standards prescribed by generally accepted auditing standards;(3) That the accountant understands the annual audited financial report and his or her opinion thereon will be filed in compliance with this article and that the commissioner will be relying on this information in the monitoring and regulation of the financial position of insurers;(4) That the accountant consents to the requirements of section eleven of this article and that the accountant consents and agrees to make available for review by the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee or appointed agent, the workpapers, as defined in section eleven of this article;(5) A representation that the accountant is properly licensed by an appropriate state licensing authority and is a member in good standing in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; and(6) A representation that the accountant is in compliance with the requirements of section six of this article.
WV Code § 33-33-11 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-11. Definition, Availability and Maintenance of Independent Certified Public Accountant Workpapers

(a) Workpapers are the records kept by the independent certified public accountant of the procedures followed, the tests performed, the information obtained, and the conclusions reached pertinent to the accountant's audit of the financial statements of an insurer. Workpapers may include audit planning documentation, work programs, analyses, memoranda, letters of confirmation and representation, abstracts of company documents and schedules or commentaries prepared or obtained by the independent certified public accountant in the course of his or her audit of the financial statements of an insurer and which support the accountant's opinion.(b) Every insurer required to file an audited financial report pursuant to this article shall require the accountant to make available for review by the commissioner all workpapers prepared in the conduct of the accountant's audit and any communications related to the audit between the accountant and the insurer, at the offices of the insurer, at the insurance department or at any other reasonable place designated by the commissioner. The insurer shall require that the accountant retain the audit workpapers and communications until the commissioner has filed a report of examination, as required by section nine, article two of this chapter, covering the period of the audit but no longer than seven years from the date of the audit report.(c) In the conduct of the aforementioned periodic review by the commissioner, it shall be agreed that copies of pertinent audit workpapers may be made and retained by the commissioner. Reviews by the commissioner shall be considered investigations and all workpapers and communications obtained during the course of such investigations shall be afforded the same confidentiality as other examination workpapers generated by the commissioner.
WV Code § 33-33-12a (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-12a. Internal Audit Function Requirements

(a) An insurer is exempt from the requirements of this section if:(1) The insurer has annual direct written and unaffiliated assumed premium, including international direct and assumed premium but excluding premiums reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, less than $500 million; and(2) If the insurer is a member of a group of insurers, the group has annual direct written and unaffiliated assumed premium, including international direct and assumed premium but excluding premiums reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, less than $1 billion.(b) The insurer or group of insurers shall establish an internal audit function providing independent, objective and reasonable assurance to the audit committee and insurer management regarding the insurers governance, risk management and internal controls. This assurance shall be provided by performing general and specific audits, reviews and tests and by employing other techniques deemed necessary to protect assets, evaluate control effectiveness and efficiency, and evaluate compliance with policies and regulations.(c) In order to ensure that internal auditors remain objective, the internal audit function must be organizationally independent. Specifically, the internal audit function may not defer ultimate judgment on audit matters to others, and shall appoint an individual to head the internal audit function who will have direct and unrestricted access to the board of directors. Organizational independence does not preclude dual-reporting relationships.(d) The head of the internal audit function shall report to the audit committee regularly, but no less than annually, on the periodic audit plan, factors that may adversely impact the internal audit functions independence or effectiveness, material findings from completed audits and the appropriateness of corrective actions implemented by management as a result of audit findings.(e) If an insurer is a member of an insurance holding company system or included in a group of insurers, the insurer may satisfy the internal audit function requirements set forth in this section at the ultimate controlling parent level, an intermediate holding company level or the individual legal entity level.
WV Code § 33-33-13 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-13. Conduct of Insurer in Connection With the Preparation of Required Reports and Documents

(a) No director or officer of an insurer shall, directly or indirectly:(1) Make or cause to be made a materially false or misleading statement to an accountant in connection with any audit, review or communication required under this article; or(2) Omit to state, or cause another person to omit to state, any material fact necessary in order to make statements made, in light of the circumstances under which the statements were made, not misleading to an accountant in connection with any audit, review or communication required under this article.(b) No officer or director of an insurer, or any other person acting under the direction thereof, shall directly or indirectly take any action to coerce, manipulate, mislead or fraudulently influence any accountant engaged in the performance of an audit pursuant to this article if that person knew or should have known that the action, if successful, could result in rendering the insurer's financial statements materially misleading.(c) For purposes of subsection (b) of this section, actions that, "if successful, could result in rendering the insurer's financial statements materially misleading" include, but are not limited to, actions taken at any time with respect to the professional engagement period to coerce, manipulate, mislead or fraudulently influence an accountant:(1) To issue or reissue a report on an insurer's financial statements that is not warranted in the circumstances due to material violations of statutory accounting principles prescribed by the commissioner, generally accepted auditing standards, or other professional or regulatory standards;(2) Not to perform audit, review or other procedures required by generally accepted auditing standards or other professional standards;(3) Not to withdraw an issued report; or(4) Not to communicate matters to an insurer's audit committee.
WV Code § 33-33-14 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 33. Annual Audited Financial Report|§33-33-14. Canadian and British Companies

(a) In the case of Canadian and British insurers, the annual audited financial report shall be defined as the annual statement of total business on the form filed by the companies with their supervision authority duly audited by an independent chartered accountant.(b) For Canadian and British insurers, the letter required in subsection (b), section five of this article shall state that the accountant is aware of the requirements relating to the annual audited financial report filed with the commissioner pursuant to section three of this article and shall affirm that the opinion expressed is in conformity with those requirements.
WV Code § 33-34-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 34. Administrative Supervision|§33-34-1. Definitions

For the purposes of this article the following definitions shall apply:(a) "Insurer" means and includes every person engaged as indemnitor, surety or contractor in the business of entering into contracts of insurance or of annuities as limited to:Any insurer who is doing an insurer business, or has transacted insurance in this state, and against whom claims arising from that transaction may exist now or in the future;This shall include, but not be limited to, any domestic insurer as defined in section six, article one of chapter thirty-three and any foreign insurer as defined in section seven, article one of said chapter thirty-three including any stock insurer, mutual insurer, reciprocal insurer, farmers' mutual fire insurance company, fraternal benefit society, hospital service corporation, medical service corporation, dental service corporation, health service corporation, health care corporation, health maintenance organization, captive insurance company or risk retention group.(b) "Exceeded its powers" means the following conditions:(1) The insurer has refused to permit examination of its books, papers, accounts, records or affairs by the commissioner, his deputy, employees, or duly commissioned examiners;(2) A domestic insurer has unlawfully removed from this state books, papers, accounts or records necessary for an examination of the insurer;(3) The insurer has failed to promptly comply with the applicable financial reporting statutes or rules and departmental requests relating thereto;(4) The insurer has neglected or refused to observe an order of the commissioner to make good, within the time prescribed by law, any prohibited deficiency in its capital, capital stock or surplus;(5) The insurer is continuing to transact business or write insurance after its license has been revoked or suspended by the commissioner;(6) The insurer, by contract or otherwise, has unlawfully or has in violation of an order of the commissioner or has without first having obtained written approval of the commissioner if approval is required by law;(A) Totally reinsured its entire outstanding business; or(B) Merged or consolidated substantially its entire property or business with another insurer.(7) The insurer engaged in any transaction in which it is not authorized to engage under the laws of this state; or(8) The insurer refused to comply with a lawful order of the commissioner.(c) "Consent" means agreement to administrative supervision by the insurer.
WV Code § 33-34-2 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 34. Administrative Supervision|§33-34-2. Applicability

The provisions of this article shall only apply to:(a) All domestic insurers; and(b) Any other insurer doing business in this state whose state of domicile has asked the commissioner to apply the provisions of this article as regards such insurer.
WV Code § 33-34-4 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 33. Insurance|Article 34. Administrative Supervision|§33-34-4. Confidentiality of Certain Proceedings and Records

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as set forth in this section, proceedings, hearings, notices, correspondence, reports, records and other information in the possession of the commissioner relating to the supervision of any insurer shall not be subject to disclosure as provided in article one, chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action, except as provided by this section. However, the commissioner is authorized to use the documents, materials or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as part of the commissioner's official duties.(b) The personnel of the offices of the Insurance Commissioner shall have access to these proceedings, hearings, notices, correspondence, reports, records or information as permitted by the commissioner. Neither the commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any such documents, materials or information.(c) The commissioner may share the notices, correspondence, reports, records or information 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, if the commissioner determines that the disclosure is necessary or proper for the enforcement of the laws of this or another state of the United States, and provided that the recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the documents, material or other information. No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality shall occur as a result of the sharing of documents, materials or other information pursuant to this subsection.(d) The commissioner may open the proceedings or hearings or make public the notices, correspondence, reports, records or other information if the commissioner deems that it is in the best interest of the public, the insurer, its insureds, creditors or the general public.(e) This section does not apply to hearings, notices, correspondence, reports, records or other information obtained upon the appointment of a receiver for the insurer by a court of competent jurisdiction.