Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 37 - INSURANCE › Part XIII - Regulations › Chapter 137 - Regulation Number 98-Annual Financial Reporting › Section XIII-13711 - Designation of Independent Certified Public Accountant

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Each insurer required by Regulation 98 to
				file an annual audited financial report must within 60 days after becoming
				subject to the 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 Regulation 98. Insurers not
				retaining an independent certified public accountant on the effective date of
				Regulation 98 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 insurance code and the regulations of 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 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 within five business days
				notify the commissioner of this event. The insurer shall also furnish the
				commissioner with a separate letter within 10 business days of the above
				notification stating whether in the 24 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 as well as 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.
D. 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. The
				insurer shall also request in writing that the former accountant 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
				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.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
				  Promulgated in accordance with
				  R.S.
				  22:1 et seq., the "Audited Financial Reports
				  Law"R.S. 22:671 et
				  seq., more particularly
				  R.S.
				  22:675 and the Administrative Procedure Act.
				  R.S.
				  49:950 et
				  seq.