§ 6105 — Licensing

§ 6105. Licensing. (a) No person, firm, corporation or association as\nan underwriter or underwriters, and no reciprocal insurer, shall do any\ninsurance business in this state, nor shall any person, firm,\ncorporation or association as attorney-in-fact or other representative\nof any reciprocal insurer do or cause to be done within this state any\nact which effects, aids or promotes the doing of an insurance business\nin this state by any reciprocal insurer, unless authorized so to do\npursuant to the provisions of this article.\n (b) Every license to do an insurance business issued by the\nsuperintendent to any reciprocal insurer pursuant to the provisions of\nthis article shall specify its name, the location of its principal\noffice, the name and principal address of its attorney-in-fact, and the\nkind or kinds of insurance business, specified in terms of subsection\n(a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen of this chapter, which\nit is authorized to do in this state.\n (c) No person shall act in the capacity of an attorney-in-fact for a\nsubscriber whose risk is located in this state or for a reciprocal\nlicensed to do business in this state, unless such person is authorized\nas such by the superintendent.\n (d) The superintendent may require the attorney-in-fact, or any person\nto which its functions, in whole or in part, have been delegated, unless\nwholly owned or controlled by the reciprocal to:\n (1) provide a bond issued by an insurer and in an amount acceptable to\nthe superintendent for the protection of the subscribers to the\nreciprocal; and\n (2) maintain an errors and omissions policy, providing coverage in an\namount and issued by an insurer acceptable to the superintendent.\n (e) The attorney-in-fact authorized as such pursuant to subsection (c)\nof this section shall not, merely by virtue of such authorization, be\nthereby deemed to be doing business in this state within the meaning of\nany laws of this state applicable to general business corporations.\n (f) An attorney-in-fact of a reciprocal insurer licensed in this state\nshall, on or before June first of each year, file with the\nsuperintendent an audited financial report of its financial condition\nand the results of its operations as related to its management of the\nreciprocal, covering the previous calendar year, prepared in accordance\nwith generally accepted accounting principles by an independent\ncertified public accountant who certified to the reciprocal's annual\nstatement pursuant to section three hundred seven of this chapter. In\nlieu of such a report, an attorney-in-fact of a foreign reciprocal who\nis an individual, shall file a statement prepared by such independent\ncertified public accountant stating that its audit of the reciprocal\ndiscloses any direct or indirect compensation or benefit paid by the\nreciprocal to the attorney-in-fact. The report or statement filed\npursuant to this subsection shall be a confidential document, not\nsubject to disclosure pursuant to this chapter or article six of the\npublic officers law.\n (g) An attorney-in-fact of a reciprocal licensed in this state shall\nsubmit to examination by order of the superintendent for the purposes of\ndetermining compliance with this article and all other relevant\nprovisions of this chapter relating to the operations of the reciprocal\nor its attorney-in-fact, which the superintendent determines (as\nspecified in the order) cannot be obtained by examination of the\nreciprocal. The cost of the examination shall be assessed against the\nattorney-in-fact and no portion thereof shall be reimbursed directly or\nindirectly by the reciprocal or its subscribers.\n (h) The advisory committee shall meet at least annually and shall\nconsist of at least nine individuals elected by the subscribers, at\nleast two-thirds of whom are subscribers or officers or directors of\nsubscribers and, except for a municipal reciprocal or a reciprocal which\nwholly owns its attorney-in-fact, not more than one-third of whom may\nbe:\n (1) the attorney-in-fact; or\n (2) an employee, officer, director, or affiliate of the\nattorney-in-fact; or\n (3) any person having a financial interest in the attorney-in-fact; or\n (4) any person representing any of the foregoing.\n (i) Members of the advisory committee may be elected and re-elected to\na term of office of not less than one year nor more than four years, and\nterms may be staggered to provide for continuity.\n (j) The chair of the advisory committee of a domestic reciprocal, who\nshall not be any of those persons enumerated in paragraphs one through\nfour of subsection (h) of this section, shall be elected by the other\nmembers of the committee and the committee of a domestic reciprocal\nshall adopt rules consistent with its purposes, as approved by the\nsuperintendent.\n (k) Special meetings of the advisory committee may be called by the\nattorney-in-fact, the chair of the committee, any three members of the\ncommittee, or a signed petition of at least one percent of the\nsubscribers as of the most recent annual report of the reciprocal.\n