2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 8 - Banking and Insurance › Chapter 159 - Risk-Based Capital for Insurers › § 8308. Confidentiality and prohibition on announcements

§ 8308. Confidentiality and prohibition on announcements
(a) All risk-based capital reports, to the extent the information in the report is not required to be set forth in a publicly available annual statement schedule, and risk-based capital plans, including the results or report of any examination or analysis of an insurer performed pursuant to this chapter and any corrective order issued by the Commissioner pursuant to examination or analysis, with respect to any domestic insurer or foreign insurer that are filed with the Commissioner, constitute information that might be damaging to the insurer if made available to its competitors and therefore shall be kept confidential and privileged by the Commissioner. This information shall not be made available for public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act, shall not be subject to subpoena, shall not be subject to discovery, and shall not be admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the Commissioner is authorized to use the documents, materials, or other information for the purpose of enforcement actions taken by the Commissioner under this chapter or any other provision of the insurance laws of this State.
(b) 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 confidential documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (a) of this section.
(c) In furtherance of his or her duties under this chapter, the Commissioner may:
(1) share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (a) of this section, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies; with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries; and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, provided the recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material, or other information;
(2) receive documents, materials, or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information, from the NAIC 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 document, material, or 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 information; and
(3) enter into agreements governing sharing and use of information consistent with this subsection.
(d) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the Commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (c) of this section.
(e) Except as otherwise required under this chapter, the making, publishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the public, directly or indirectly in any manner, the risk-based capital levels of any insurer, or of any component derived in the calculation, by any insurer, agent, broker, or other person engaged in any manner in the insurance business is prohibited. Any person violating this section shall be subject to an administrative penalty of up to $500.00.
(f) The Commissioner may, in his or her discretion, permit the correction of any material misstatement published by a party unrelated to the insurer concerning any aspect of the insurer’s risk-based capital level or any component thereof. A correction permitted under this section may be used solely to rebut the material misstatement. (Added 1993, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. June 21, 1994; amended 1995, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 26; 2013, No. 29, § 40, eff. May 13, 2013; 2021, No. 25, § 15, eff. May 12, 2021; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 271, eff. July 1, 2022.)