§ 58-3-110.  Limitation of liability assumed.

(a) No company transacting fidelity or surety business in this State shall expose itself to any loss on any one fidelity or surety risk or hazard in an amount exceeding ten per centum (10%) of its policyholders' surplus, unless it shall be protected in excess of that amount by:

(1) Reinsurance in such form as to enable the obligee or beneficiary to maintain an action thereon against the company reinsured jointly with such reinsurer and, upon recovering judgment against such reinsured, to have recovery against such reinsurer for payment to the extent in which it may be liable under such reinsurance and in discharge thereof; or

(2) The cosuretyship of such a company similarly authorized; or

(3) By deposit with it in pledge or conveyance to it in trust for its protection of property; or

(4) By conveyance or mortgage for its protection; or

(5) In case a suretyship obligation was made on behalf or on account of a fiduciary holding property in a trust capacity, by deposit or other disposition of a portion of the property so held in trust that no future sale, mortgage, pledge or other disposition can be made thereof without the consent of such company; except by decree or order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

(b) Provided:

(1) That such company may execute what are known as transportation or warehousing bonds for United States internal revenue taxes to an amount equal to fifty per centum (50%) of its policyholders' surplus;

(2) That, when the penalty of the suretyship obligation exceeds the amount of a judgment described therein as appealed from and thereby secured, or exceeds the amount of the subject matter in controversy or of the estate in the hands of the fiduciary for the performance of whose duties it is conditioned, the bond may be executed if the actual amount of the judgment or the subject matter in controversy or estate not subject to the supervision or control of the surety is not in excess of such limitation; and

(3) That, when the penalty of the suretyship obligation executed for the performance of a contract exceeds the contract price, the latter shall be taken as the basis for estimating the limit of risk within the meaning of this section.

(c) No such company shall, anything to the contrary in this section notwithstanding, execute suretyship obligations guaranteeing the deposits of any single financial institution in an aggregate amount in excess of ten per centum (10%) of the policyholders' surplus of such surety, unless it shall be protected in excess of that amount by credits in accordance with subdivisions (1), (2), (3) or (4) of subsection (a) of this section: Provided, nothing in this section shall be construed to make invalid any contract entered into by such company with another person, firm, corporation or municipal corporation, notwithstanding any provisions of this section. (1911, c. 28; C.S., s. 6382; 1931, c. 285; 1945, c. 377.)