§ 31-5204 — Principal office and books, records, and files of corporation to be in District; exception; reincorporation of certain corporations; violations; prosecutions.

District of Columbia § 31-5204

• Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
• Title 31: Insurance and Securities.
• Ch. 52: General Provisions.

Text

(a) Any corporation now or hereafter formed or organized under any provision of law in force and effect in the District of Columbia to engage in an insurance business shall maintain its principal office within said District and shall keep its books, records, and files therein, and shall not remove from said District either its principal office or its books, records, or files without the permission of the Mayor of the District of Columbia first had and obtained; provided, however, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed to apply to the books, records, and files of any such corporation kept in a branch office agency of such corporation, which books, records, and files relate solely to the business transacted by the said branch office agency; and provided further, that any insurance corporation created by special act of Congress is authorized upon resolution of its board of directors or trustees to reincorporate under the laws of any state of the United States, a certified copy of such resolution of such board of directors or trustees having first been filed in the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Securities [Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking] of the District of Columbia and recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia. Upon compliance with the above conditions, the assets of the said corporation shall thereby become vested in the new corporation. Said new corporation shall faithfully carry out any and every right, obligation, and liability of said original corporation.

(b) Any corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall forthwith forfeit its charter, which forfeiture shall operate as a revocation of its license to do business within said District.

(c) Any officer, agent, or employee of any such corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall pay a fine of not less than $300 or be imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. All prosecutions under this section shall be upon information filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in the name of the District of Columbia by the Corporation Counsel thereof or any of his assistants.

Legislative History

Mar. 3, 1901, ch. 854, § 657a; May 17, 1932, 47 Stat. 158, ch. 189; Apr. 1, 1942, 56 Stat. 190, ch. 207, § 1; July 8, 1963, 77 Stat. 77, Pub. L. 88-60,§ 1; July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 570, Pub. L. 91-358, title I, § 155(a); May 21, 1997, D.C. Law 11-268, § 10(d), 44 DCR 1730