2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 33. Insurance and Insurance Companies › Chapter 2. Regulation of Insurance Companies › Part 11. Affiliation and Merger -- Holding Company Systems -- Own Risk and Solvency Assessment › 33-2-1116. Confidentiality of information

33-2-1116. Confidentiality of information.
(1) (a) Documents, materials, and other information in the possession or control of the commissioner that are obtained by or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to 33-2-1115 and all other information provided to the department of insurance pursuant to 33-2-1104(3)(l), 33-2-1104(3)(m), 33-2-1111, and 33-2-1113 are confidential information as provided in 2-6-1002 and Title 2, chapter 6, part 10, are recognized by this state as being proprietary and contain trade secrets, and are confidential by law and privileged, are not subject to subpoena or discovery, and are not admissible in evidence in any private civil action. The commissioner is authorized to use the documents, materials, and other information to further 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 the documents, materials, or other information pertains unless the commissioner, after giving notice and an opportunity to be heard to the insurer and the insurer's affiliates who would be affected, determines that the interest of policyholders, shareholders, or the public would be served by the publication. On a determination that the interest of policyholders, shareholders, or the public would be served, the commissioner may publish all or any part of the documents, materials, or other information in a manner that the commissioner considers appropriate.
(b) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department of insurance pursuant to 33-2-1111(7)(b), the commissioner 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.
(c) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department pursuant to 33-2-1111(7)(c), the commissioner 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 commissioner nor any person who receives documents, materials, or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner, or with whom the documents, materials, or other information is shared under Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section, may be required or permitted to testify in a private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (1).
(3) To assist in the performance of the commissioner's duties, the commissioner:
(a) may, subject to subsection (3)(b), share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (1), including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with the NAIC, with any third-party consultants designated by the commissioner, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including members of a supervisory college. To receive the shared documents, materials, or other information, the recipient shall verify in writing that the recipient has the legal authority to maintain confidentiality and agree in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information.
(b) may share confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information reported pursuant to 33-2-1111(7) only with insurance regulators of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection (1) and only if the respective insurance regulators have agreed in writing not to disclose the documents, materials, or other information;
(c) may receive documents, materials, or other information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information, including proprietary and trade-secret information, from the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions; and
(d) shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, materials, or other information received under subsection (3)(c) with notice or the understanding that the document, materials, or other information is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document, materials, or information.
(4) (a) The commissioner shall enter into written agreements with the NAIC and any third-party consultant designated by the commissioner governing the sharing and use of information provided pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section.
(b) An agreement with the NAIC under this subsection (4) must:
(i) specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal, or international regulators. The agreement must provide that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality;
(ii) specify that ownership information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section remains with the commissioner and that the NAIC's or a third-party consultant's, as designated by the commissioner, use of the information is subject to the direction of the commissioner;
(iii) excluding documents, material, or information reported pursuant to 33-2-1111, prohibit the NAIC or third-party consultant designated by the commissioner from storing the information shared pursuant to this chapter in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed;
(iv) require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section is subject to a request or a subpoena to the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner for disclosure or production;
(v) require the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer that has been shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section; and
(vi) for documents, material, or information reporting pursuant to 33-2-1111(7)(c) in the case of an agreement involving a third-party consultant, provide for notification of the identity of the consultant to the applicable insurers.
(5) The sharing of information by the commissioner pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section does not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking. The commissioner is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions of Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section.
(6) Disclosure to the commissioner of information under this section or as a result of sharing of confidential information authorized under subsections (3) and (4) does not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality related to the information obtained under Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section.
(7) Documents, materials, and other information in the possession or control of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to Title 33, chapter 2, part 4, and this section are confidential information as provided in 2-6-1002 and privileged, are not admissible in evidence in a private civil action, and are not subject to subpoena or discovery.
(8) The group capital calculation and resulting group capital ratio required under 33-2-1111 and the liquidity stress test along with its results and supporting disclosures required under 33-2-1111 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 the provisions of this title, 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. However, 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 commissioner 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.
History: En. Sec. 7, Ch. 64, L. 1971; R.C.M. 1947, 40-5515; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 416, L. 1999; amd. Secs. 70, 71, Ch. 348, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 31, Ch. 370, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 344, L. 2021.