Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 16 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS › Chapter 185 - ANNUAL AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORTING › Section 16-185-105 - Designation of independent certified public accountant

Current through June, 2024
(a)
			 Each insurer required by this chapter to file an annual audited financial
			 report shall within sixty days after becoming subject to this requirement,
			 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 chapter Insurers not retaining an
			 independent certified public accountant on the effective date of this chapter
			 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 the statutes and the rules of the
			 Hawai`i insurance division or the insurance department of the state of domicile
			 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 their conformity to the statutory accounting practices prescribed or
			 otherwise permitted by the Hawai`i insurance division or that insurance
			 department, specifying such 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:
(1)
			 Within five business days notify the commissioner of this event;
(2) Furnish the commissioner with a separate
			 letter, within ten business days of the notification, stating whether in the
			 twenty-four months preceding such event 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;
(3) Report disagreements required to be
			 reported in response to this subsection including 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, i.e., between personnel of the insurer
			 responsible for presentation of its financial statements and personnel of the
			 accounting firm responsible for rendering its report; and
(4) In writing, request the former accountant
			 to furnish 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 why that accountant does not agree. The insurer shall
			 furnish to the commissioner copies of its request within five business days of
			 sending the request and the responsive letter from the former accountant within
			 five business days after its receipt.