§ 1102 — Insurer's license required; issuance

New York § 1102

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ISC: Insurance
• Art. 11: Licensing of Insurers

Text

§ 1102. Insurer's license required; issuance. (a) No person, firm,\nassociation, corporation or joint-stock company shall do an insurance\nbusiness in this state unless authorized by a license in force pursuant\nto the provisions of this chapter, or exempted by the provisions of this\nchapter from such requirement. Any person, firm, association,\ncorporation or joint-stock company which transacts any insurance\nbusiness in this state while not authorized to do so by a license issued\nand in force pursuant to this chapter, or exempted by this chapter from\nthe requirement of having such license, shall, in addition to any other\npenalty provided by law, forfeit to the people of this state the sum of\none thousand dollars for the first violation and two thousand five\nhundred dollars for each subsequent violation.\n (b) No corporation organized under any law of this state shall do an\ninsurance business outside this state unless so authorized pursuant to\nthe provisions of this chapter or exempted by the provisions of this\nchapter from such requirement.\n (c) Every insurer organized prior to the first day of October,\neighteen hundred ninety-two, as an insurer under any general or special\nlaw of this state which was doing an insurance business in this state\nimmediately prior to the first day of January, nineteen hundred forty in\ncompliance with the insurance law then in force and not as an\norganization exempted therefrom, shall be deemed licensed to do an\ninsurance business in this state, subject to this chapter.\n (d) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (h) hereof, the\nsuperintendent may issue a license to any insurer to do in this state\nthe kinds of insurance business for which such insurer is qualified\nunder the provisions of this chapter and under its charter. Every such\nlicense shall contain the name of the licensee, its home office address,\nthe state or country under whose laws it was organized, the kinds of\ninsurance business, as defined in this chapter, which it is authorized\nto do in this state, and the term of such license. The superintendent\nmay refuse to issue or renew any such license if in his judgment such\nrefusal will best promote the interests of the people of this state.\n (e) (1) Before licensing any such corporation organized under section\none thousand two hundred one of this chapter, to do any insurance\nbusiness, the superintendent shall:\n (A) If such corporation be a stock corporation, cause an examination\nto be made into its affairs in accordance with the provisions of this\nchapter; and if it appears from the report upon such examination that\nthe amount of capital and surplus required by law has been paid in and\nis possessed by the corporation in cash or in investments permitted by\nthis chapter as minimum capital or minimum surplus to policyholder\ninvestments under section one thousand four hundred two of this chapter,\nthe superintendent shall file such report in his office and notify the\ncorporation thereof;\n (B) If such corporation be a mutual corporation, require proof (by\nstatements of at least three incorporators subscribed and affirmed by\nsuch incorporators as true under the penalties of perjury, and by such\ninvestigation or examination of the affairs of such corporation as he\nmay deem it expedient to make pursuant to the provisions of this\nchapter) that:\n (i) the corporation has fully complied with the applicable provisions\nof this chapter,\n (ii) it has the required initial surplus in cash or investments as\nprescribed in this chapter,\n (iii) it has the required number and amount of bona fide applications\nfor insurance as prescribed in this chapter,\n (iv) the membership list is genuine, and\n (v) every member has paid in cash the required premium on the\ninsurance applied for and will take the policies as agreed within sixty\ndays after a license has been issued to such corporation.\nIf the superintendent finds such proof of the foregoing facts to be\nsufficient, he shall file it in his office and notify the corporation\nthereof;\n (C) Upon payment of the appropriate fees by such corporation, cause a\ncopy of its declaration and charter, certified by him, to be filed and\nrecorded in the office of the clerk of the county in which such\ncorporation has its principal office.\n (2) The superintendent may refuse a license to any such corporation if\nhe finds, after notice and hearing, that any proposed incorporator or\ndirector of a stock corporation, or any director of a mutual\ncorporation, has been convicted of any crime involving fraud,\ndishonesty, or like moral turpitude, or is an untrustworthy person. As a\npart of such determination, the superintendent is authorized to\nfingerprint applicants for licensure. Such fingerprints shall be\nsubmitted to the division of criminal justice services for a state\ncriminal history record check, as defined in subdivision one of section\nthree thousand thirty-five of the education law, and may be submitted to\nthe federal bureau of investigation for a national criminal history\nrecord check.\n (3) The corporation, on receiving notice from the superintendent that\nit has complied with this subsection, shall thereupon deposit with the\nsuperintendent such monies or securities as may be required by law.\n (4) Upon compliance with this section and any other lawful\nprerequisites for the issuance of an insurer's license, the\nsuperintendent may, pursuant to this section, issue a license to such\ncorporation to do the kind or kinds of business specified in its\ncharter; provided that this subsection shall not apply to co-operative\nfire insurance companies, fraternal benefit societies, or corporations\norganized under article forty-three of this chapter.\n (f) Except as may be otherwise provided in this chapter, every license\nto do an insurance business shall be issued to a single licensee, who\nshall be either an individual or corporation.\n (g) (1) No license to do an insurance business, or to act as an\ninsurance agent, agency or broker, shall be granted to any person, firm,\nassociation, corporation, or joint-stock company proposing to do\nbusiness under a name identical with, or so similar to as to be likely\nto deceive or mislead the public, the name of any insurer then licensed\nor authorized to do any kind of insurance business within this state, or\nof any proposed domestic insurance corporation whose name has been\napproved pursuant to section one thousand two hundred one of this\nchapter within six months preceding the application for such license, or\nof any domestic corporation, organized but not yet licensed, which has\nnot forfeited its charter because of non-use; provided, the\nsuperintendent may, in his discretion, upon satisfactory proof of an\nappropriate resolution of any insurance corporation's board of\ndirectors, grant a license to do any different kind of insurance\nbusiness to another person, firm, association, joint-stock company,\ninsurance agent, agency or broker, or insurance corporation, having a\nsimilar, but not identical, name. Notwithstanding any other provision of\nthis article, the superintendent may refuse to grant a license to do an\ninsurance business, or to act as an insurance agent, agency or broker,\nto any person, firm, association, corporation or joint-stock company\nproposing to do business under a name which is likely to deceive or\nmislead the public in this state.\n (2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a license\nrenewal for a foreign or alien insurer, or to any corporation formed as\npart of a plan, approved by the superintendent and by the court, for\nrehabilitation of a domestic insurance corporation pursuant to article\nseventy-four of this chapter. A domestic corporation, formed by\nreincorporation, reorganization or consolidation of other corporations,\nor upon the sale of the property or franchises of another corporation,\nor a corporation acquiring or becoming possessed of all of the estate,\nproperty, rights, privileges and franchises of any other corporation or\ncorporations by merger, may have a name identical with, or similar to,\nthat of any corporation to whose franchises it has succeeded, if such\nother corporation was then licensed to do the business of insurance in\nthis state.\n (h) No license to transact any kind of insurance business in this\nstate shall be issued or renewed to any foreign or alien insurer or\nissued or continued in effect to any domestic insurer which is\ncontrolled by another state of the United States or by a foreign\ngovernment or by any political subdivision of either, or which is an\nagency of any such state, government or subdivision, unless: (1) such\ninsurer was so controlled or constituted, and was authorized to do\nbusiness in this state, on or prior to January first, nineteen hundred\nfifty-six; or (2) such insurer is not authorized to transact the kinds\nof insurance specified in paragraph one, two or three of subsection (a)\nof section one thousand one hundred thirteen of this article and the\nsuperintendent determines that:\n (A) such insurer does not receive a subsidy or other competitive\nadvantage, as a result of such control or status, that would enable it\nto compete unfairly with similarly situated authorized insurers which\nare not so controlled or constituted;\n (B) such insurer is not entitled to claim sovereign immunity as a\nresult of such control or status, or has waived the sovereign immunity;\n (C) the use of such insurer would not be detrimental to the interests\nof the people of this state; and\n (D) such insurer otherwise satisfies all applicable requirements for\nthe issuance or renewal of such license.\n