North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 45 - Insurance, Commissioner of › Article 45-03 - Regulation of Insurance Companies › Chapter 45-03-20 - Annual Financial Reporting Model Regulation › Section 45-03-20-05 - Designation of independent certified public accountant

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
1. Each insurer required by this chapter to
				file an annual audited financial report within sixty days after becoming
				subject to the requirement, shall 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 under this chapter. Insurers not
				retaining an independent certified public accountant on October 1, 1995, shall
				register the name and address of their retained independent certified public
				accountants not less than six months before the date when the first audited
				financial report is to be filed.
2. 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 rules and regulations of
				the insurance department of the state of domicile that relate to accounting and
				financial matters and affirming that the accountant will express an opinion on
				the financial statements in terms of their conformity to the statutory
				accounting practices prescribed or otherwise permitted by that department,
				specifying the exceptions as the accountant may believe appropriate.
3. 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 ten business days of the above notification stating whether in
				the twenty-four months preceding the 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 the accountant to make reference to the subject matter of the
				disagreement in connection with the accountant's 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. Disagreements contemplated by this section are those
				that occur at the decisionmaking level, that is 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 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 for which the
				accountant does not agree; and the insurer shall furnish the responsive letter
				from the former accountant to the commissioner together with its own.
General Authority: NDCC 28-32-02
Law Implemented: NDCC 26.1-03-07,
					 26.1-03-11.1