§337. Refusal, suspension, and revocation of certificate of authority
A. The commissioner of insurance may refuse, suspend, or revoke the certificate of
authority of a foreign or alien insurer, or he may levy a fine not to exceed five thousand
dollars for each violation or twenty-five thousand dollars in the aggregate in lieu of refusal,
suspension, or revocation of the certificate of authority, whenever he shall find that the
insurer:
(2)Fails to comply with the requirements for admission in respect to capital,
contingent liability, the investment of its assets or the maintenance of deposits in this or
another state or fails to maintain the surplus which similar domestic insurers transacting the
same kind or kinds of business are required to maintain;
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§337. Refusal, suspension, and revocation of certificate of authority
A. The commissioner of insurance may refuse, suspend, or revoke the certificate of
authority of a foreign or alien insurer, or he may levy a fine not to exceed five thousand
dollars for each violation or twenty-five thousand dollars in the aggregate in lieu of refusal,
suspension, or revocation of the certificate of authority, whenever he shall find that the
insurer:
(1) Is insolvent;
(2) Fails to comply with the requirements for admission in respect to capital,
contingent liability, the investment of its assets or the maintenance of deposits in this or
another state or fails to maintain the surplus which similar domestic insurers transacting the
same kind or kinds of business are required to maintain;
(3) Is in such a condition that its further transaction of business in this state would
be hazardous to policyholders and creditors in this state and to the public;
(4) Has refused or neglected to pay a valid final judgment against such insurer within
sixty days after the rendition of such judgment;
(5) Has violated any law of this state or has in this state violated its charter or
exceeded its corporate powers;
(6) Has refused to submit its books, papers, accounts, records, or affairs to the
reasonable inspection or examination of the commissioner of insurance, his actuaries,
supervisors, deputies or examiners;
(7) Has an officer who has refused upon reasonable demand to be examined under
oath touching its affairs;
(8) Fails to file its annual statement within sixty days after the date when it is
required by law to file such statement;
(9) Fails to file a copy of an amendment to its charter or articles of incorporation
within sixty days after the effective date of such amendment, in accordance with the
provisions of this Subpart;
(10) Fails to file copies of the agreement and certificate of merger and the financial
statements of the merged insurers, if required, within sixty days after the effective date of the
merger, as provided in this Subpart;
(11) Fails to pay any fees, taxes or charges prescribed by this Code within sixty days
after they are due and payable; provided, however, that in case of objection or legal contest
the insurer shall not be required to pay the tax until sixty days after final disposition of the
objection or legal contest;
(12) Fails to file any report or reports for the purpose of enabling the commissioner
of insurance to compute the taxes to be paid by such insurer within sixty days after the date
when it is required by law to file such report or reports;
(13) Has had its corporate existence dissolved or its certificate of authority revoked
or suspended in the state in which it was organized or in any other state in which it is
admitted;
(14) Has had all its risks reinsured in their entirety in another insurer;
(15) Refuses to remove or discharge a director or officer who has been convicted of
any crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or like moral turpitude; or
(16) Is affiliated with and under the same general management, or interlocking
directorate, or ownership as another insurer which transacts insurance in this state without
having a certificate of authority therefor, except as is permitted by this Code.
(17) Fails to maintain a claims office for processing workers' compensation
insurance claims in this state, as required by R.S. 23:1161.1, or to retain the services of a
claims adjuster who possesses a Louisiana license. This Paragraph shall not apply to
reinsurers licensed or accredited to do business in the state.
(18) Fails to require its producers to maintain licensure as producers as provided by
law or by regulation of the Department of Insurance.
(19) Fails to file required biographical information within sixty days of the
appointment of officers and directors appointed after issuance of the certificate of authority.
B. Except for the grounds stated in Paragraphs (1), (11), (13), and (14) of Subsection
A of this Section, the commissioner of insurance shall not revoke or suspend the certificate
of authority of a foreign or alien insurer until he has given the insurer at least thirty days
notice of the proposed revocation or suspension and of the grounds therefor and has afforded
the insurer an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with Chapter 12 of this Title, R.S.
22:2191 et seq.
C. Upon such refusal, suspension or revocation, the commissioner of insurance shall
likewise refuse, suspend or revoke the authority of the insurer's agents in this state and give
notice thereof to such agents.
D. The commissioner of insurance shall not suspend an insurer's certificate of
authority for a period in excess of one year, and he shall state in his order of suspension the
period during which it shall be effective.
E. No insurer whose certificate of authority has been suspended, revoked, or refused
shall subsequently be authorized unless the grounds for such suspension, revocation, or
refusal no longer exist and the insurer is otherwise fully qualified.
F.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, the commissioner shall
refuse to issue, suspend, or revoke the certificate of authority of a foreign or alien insurer if
the commissioner finds that a person is serving as an officer, director, or person with direct
or indirect control over the selection or appointment of an officer or director, through
contract, trust, or by operation of law, of an insurer doing business in this state, and the
person served in that capacity within the two-year period prior to the date the insurer became
insolvent, unless the person demonstrates that his personal actions and omissions were not
a significant contributing cause to the insurer's insolvency, as determined by the
commissioner.
(2) The commissioner may issue a certificate of authority to a foreign or alien insurer
that has a person serving as an officer, director, or person with direct or indirect control over
the selection or appointment of an officer or director, and the person previously served in that
capacity for an insurer that became insolvent, and at least five years have passed from the
date the insurer became insolvent.
G. For the purpose of this Section, "personal action" means any breach of the
responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon a person by virtue of his position.
NOTE: Former R.S. 22:337 redesignated as R.S. 22:197 by Acts 2008, No.
415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.