2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 27 - Insurance › Chapter 27-4.5 - The Standard Valuation Law › Section 27-4.5-16. - Confidentiality.

§ 27-4.5-16. Confidentiality.
(a)
For purposes of this section, “confidential information” shall mean:
(1)
A memorandum in support of an opinion submitted under § 27-4-3 and any other documents, materials, and other information, including, but not limited to, all working papers, and copies thereof, created, produced, or obtained by, or disclosed to, the commissioner or any other person in connection with such memorandum;
(2)
All documents, materials, and other information, including, but not limited to, all working papers, and copies thereof, created, produced, or obtained by, or disclosed to, the commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination made under § 27-4.5-13(f); provided, however, that if an examination report or other material prepared in connection with an examination made under chapter 13.1 of title 27 is not held as private and confidential information under chapter 13.1 of this title, an examination report or other material prepared in connection with an examination made under § 27-4.5-13(f) of this chapter shall not be “confidential information” to the same extent as if such examination report or other material had been prepared in accordance with chapter 13.1 of title 27;
(3)
Any reports, documents, materials, and other information developed by a company in support of, or in connection with, an annual certification by the company under § 27-4.5-14(b)(2) evaluating the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls with respect to a principle-based valuation and any other documents, materials and other information, including, but not limited to, all working papers, and copies thereof, created, produced, or obtained by, or disclosed to, the commissioner or any other person in connection with such reports, documents, materials and other information;
(4)
Any principle-based valuation report developed under § 27-4.5-14(b)(3) and any other documents, materials, and other information, including, but not limited to, all working papers, and copies thereof, created, produced, or obtained by, or disclosed to, the commissioner or any other person in connection with such report; and
(5)
Any documents, materials, data, and other information submitted by a company under § 27-4.5-15 (collectively, “experience data”) and any other documents, materials, data, and other information, including, but not limited to, all working papers, and copies thereof, created or produced in connection with such experience data, in each case that include any potentially company-identifying or personally identifiable information, that is provided to, or obtained by, the commissioner (together with any “experience data,” the “experience materials”) and any other documents, materials, data, and other information, including, but not limited to, all working papers, and copies thereof, created, produced, or obtained by, or disclosed to, the commissioner or any other person in connection with such experience materials.
(b)
Privilege for, and confidentiality of, confidential information.
(1)
Except as provided in this § 27-4.5-16, a company’s confidential information is confidential by law and privileged and shall not be subject to chapter 2 of title 38, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action; provided, however, that the commissioner is authorized to use the confidential information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought against the company as a part of the commissioner’s official duties.
(2)
Neither the commissioner, nor any person who received confidential information while acting under the authority of the commissioner, shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential information.
(3)
In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner’s duties, the commissioner may share confidential information:
(i)
With other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies and with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries; and
(ii)
In the case of confidential information specified in §§ 27-4.5-16(a)(1) and 27-4.5-16(a)(4) only, with the actuarial board for counseling and discipline or its successor upon request stating that the confidential information is required for the purpose of professional disciplinary proceedings, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement officials; in the case of subsections (a) and (b), provided, that, such recipient agrees, and has the legal authority to agree, to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of such documents, materials, data, and other information in the same manner, and to the same extent, as required for the commissioner.
(4)
The commissioner may receive documents, materials, data, and other information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, data, or information, from the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, from regulatory or law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions and from the actuarial board for counseling and discipline or its successor and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, material, data, 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.
(5)
The commissioner may enter into agreements governing sharing and use of information consistent with § 27-4.5-16(b).
(6)
No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the confidential information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in § 27-4.5-16(b)(3).
(7)
A privilege established under the law of any state or jurisdiction that is substantially similar to the privilege established under § 27-4.5-16(b) shall be available and enforced in any proceeding in, and in any court of, this state.
(8)
In § 27-4.5-16 “regulatory agency,” “law enforcement agency” and the “NAIC” include, but are not limited to, their employees, agents, consultants, and contractors.
(c)
Notwithstanding § 27-4.5-16(b), any confidential information specified in §§ 27-4.5-16(a)(1) and 27-4.5-14(a)(4):
(1)
May be subject to subpoena for the purpose of defending an action seeking damages from the appointed actuary submitting the related memorandum in support of an opinion submitted under § 27-4.5-3 or principle-based valuation report developed under § 27-4.5-14(b)(3) by reason of an action required by this chapter or by regulations promulgated hereunder;
(2)
May otherwise be released by the commissioner with the written consent of the company; and
(3)
Once any portion of a memorandum in support of an opinion submitted under § 27-4.5-3 or a principle-based valuation report developed under § 27-4.5-14(b)(3) is cited by the company in its marketing, or is publicly volunteered to or before a governmental agency other than a state insurance department, or is released by the company to the news media, all portions of such memorandum or report shall no longer be confidential.
History of Section.
P.L. 2013, ch. 17, § 4; P.L. 2013, ch. 20, § 4; P.L. 2014, ch. 91, § 2; P.L. 2014, ch. 94, § 2.