§ 58-19-25.  Registration of insurers.

(a) Every insurer that is authorized to do business in this State and that is a member of an insurance holding company system shall register with the Commissioner pursuant to G.S. 58-19-25(b), except a foreign insurer subject to the registration requirements and standards adopted by statute or regulation in the jurisdiction of its domicile that are substantially similar to those contained in:

(1) This section.

(2) G.S. 58-19-30(a), G.S. 58-19-30(c), and G.S. 58-19-30(d).

(3) G.S. 58-19-30(b) or a statutory or regulatory provision such as the following: Each registered insurer shall keep current the information required to be disclosed in its registration statement by reporting all material changes or additions within 15 days after the end of the month in which it learns of each change or addition. The insurer shall also file a copy of its registration statement and any amendments to the statement in each state in which that insurer is authorized to do business, if requested by the insurance regulator of that state.

Any insurer that is subject to registration under this section shall register within 30 days after it becomes subject to registration, and an amendment to the registration statement shall be filed by April 1 of each year for the previous calendar year; unless the Commissioner for good cause shown extends the time for registration or filing, and then within the extended time. All registration statements shall contain a summary, on a Form C as prescribed by the Commissioner, outlining all items in the current registration statement representing changes from the prior registration statement. The Commissioner may require any insurer that is an insurance member of a holding company system that is not subject to registration under this section to furnish a copy of the registration statement or other information filed by the insurance company with the insurance regulator of its domiciliary jurisdiction.

(b) Every insurer subject to registration shall file the registration statement on a Form B prescribed by the Commissioner, which shall contain the following current information:

(1) The bylaws, capital structure, general financial condition, ownership, and management of the insurer and any person controlling the insurer.

(2) The identity and relationship of every member of the insurance holding company system.

(3) The following agreements in force, and transactions currently outstanding or that have occurred during the last calendar year between such insurer and its affiliates:

a. Loans, other investments, or purchases, sales or exchanges of securities of the affiliates by the insurer or of the insurer by its affiliates.

b. Purchases, sales, or exchange of assets.

c. Transactions not in the ordinary course of business.

d. Guarantees or undertakings for the benefit of an affiliate that result in an actual contingent exposure of the insurer's assets to liability, other than insurance contracts entered into in the ordinary course of the insurer's business.

e. All management agreements, service contracts, and cost-sharing arrangements.

f. Reinsurance agreements.

g. Dividends and other distributions to shareholders.

h. Consolidated tax allocation agreements.

(4) Any pledge of the insurer's stock, including stock of any subsidiary or controlling affiliate, for a loan made to any member of the insurance holding company system.

(5) Other matters concerning transactions between registered insurers and any affiliates as may be included from time to time in any registration forms adopted or approved by the Commissioner.

(6) If requested by the Commissioner, the insurer shall include financial statements of or within an insurance holding company system, including all affiliates. Financial statements may include, but are not limited to, annual audited financial statements filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. An insurer required to file financial statements pursuant to this subdivision may satisfy the request by providing the Commissioner with the most recently filed parent corporation financial statements that have been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

(7) Statements that the insurer's board of directors oversees corporate governance and internal controls and that the insurer's officers or senior management have approved, implemented, and continue to maintain and monitor corporate governance and internal control procedures.

(8) Any other information required by the Commissioner by rule or regulation.

(c) No information need be disclosed on the registration statement filed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section if such information is not material for the purposes of this section. Unless the Commissioner by rule or order provides otherwise, all sales, purchases, exchanges, loans or extensions of credit, investments, or guarantees involving one-half of one percent ( 1//s2%) or less of an insurer's admitted assets as of the preceding December 31 are not material for the purposes of this section.

(d) Subject to G.S. 58-7-130(b) and G.S. 58-19-30(c), each domestic insurer shall report to the Commissioner all dividends and other distributions to shareholders within five business days following the declaration thereof and at least 30 days before the payment of the dividend or distribution by providing the information set forth in G.S. 58-19-30(e). A prior notification of an ordinary dividend or any other ordinary distribution required under this subsection shall be deemed to be incomplete unless all of the information required by G.S. 58-19-30(e) has been included. The Commissioner shall consider the factors set forth in G.S. 58-19-30(d) in his review of dividends or other distributions to shareholders pursuant to this subsection. The Commissioner may adopt rules to further the requirements of this section.

(e) Any person within an insurance holding company system subject to registration shall provide complete and accurate information to an insurer, where such information is reasonably necessary to enable the insurer to comply with the provisions of this Article.

(f) The Commissioner shall terminate the registration of any insurer that demonstrates that it no longer is a member of an insurance holding company system. A termination of registration shall include the information set forth in subdivision (j)(1) of this section and shall be deemed to have been granted unless the Commissioner, within 30 days after receipt of the request, notifies the registrant otherwise.

(g) The Commissioner may require or allow two or more affiliated insurers subject to registration under this section to file a consolidated or alternative registration statement as provided in subsection (h) of this section. The Commissioner, however, reserves the right to require individual filings if he deems such filings necessary in the interest of clarity, ease of administration, or the public good.

(h) Any authorized insurer may file a registration statement on behalf of any affiliated insurer or insurers that are required to register under subsection (a) of this section. A registration statement may include information not required by Article 19 of this Chapter regarding any insurer in the insurance holding company system even if the insurer is not authorized to do business in this State. In lieu of filing a registration statement on a Form B, the authorized insurer may file a copy of the registration statement or similar report that it is required to file in its state of domicile, provided all of the following apply:

(1) The statement or report contains substantially similar information required to be furnished on Form B.

(2) The filing insurer is the principal insurance company in the insurance holding company system.

The question of whether the filing insurer is the principal insurance company in the insurance holding company system is a question of fact, and an insurer filing a registration statement or report in lieu of Form B on behalf of an affiliated insurer shall set forth a brief statement of facts which will substantiate the filing insurer's claim that it, in fact, is the principal insurer in the insurance holding company system.

(i) The provisions of this section do not apply to any insurer, information, or transaction if and to the extent that the Commissioner by rule or order exempts the same from the provisions of this section.

(j) Any person may file with the Commissioner a disclaimer of affiliation, which includes the information outlined in G.S. 58-19-25(j)(2), with any authorized insurer, or such a disclaimer of affiliation may be filed by such insurer or any member of an insurance holding company system as set forth in this subsection:

(1) A disclaimer of affiliation shall be deemed to have been granted unless the Commissioner, within 30 days following the receipt of a complete disclaimer of affiliation, notifies the filing party that the disclaimer of affiliation is disallowed. In the event of disallowance, the disclaiming party may request an administrative hearing, which shall be granted. The disclaiming party shall be relieved of its duty to register under this section if approval of the disclaimer of affiliation has been granted by the Commissioner, or if the disclaimer of affiliation is deemed to have been approved.

(2) A disclaimer of affiliation pursuant to this subsection or a request for termination of registration pursuant to G.S. 58-19-25(f) claiming that a person does not, or will not upon the taking of some proposed action, control another person (hereinafter "subject") shall contain the following information:

a. The number of authorized, issued, and outstanding voting securities of the subject.

b. With respect to the person whose control is denied and all affiliates of such person, the number and percentage of shares of the subject's voting securities, which are held of record or known to be beneficially owned, and the number of shares concerning which there is a right to acquire, directly or indirectly.

c. All material relationships and bases for affiliation between the subject and the person whose control is denied and all affiliates of such person.

d. A statement explaining why the person should not be considered to control the subject.

(k) The failure to file a registration statement or any summary of the registration statement or enterprise risk filing thereto required by this section within the time specified for such filing is a violation of this section.

(l) Effective January 1, 2016, the ultimate controlling person of every insurer subject to registration shall also file an annual enterprise risk report on Form F as prescribed by the Commissioner. The report shall, to the best of the ultimate controlling person's knowledge and belief, identify the material risks within the insurance holding company system that could pose enterprise risk to the insurer. The report shall be filed with the lead state commissioner of the insurance holding company system as determined by the procedures within the Financial Analysis Handbook adopted by the NAIC. (1989, c. 722, s. 1; 1991, c. 681, ss. 33, 34; 1993, c. 452, ss. 30-32; c. 504, s. 13; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 678, s. 14; 1995, c. 193, s. 26; 2001-223, s. 16.6; 2006-105, s. 3.2; 2015-146, s. 1.4; 2015-281, s. 13.)