§ 27-71-4. Domestic responsibility and deference to other states.
(a) The commissioner is authorized to conduct market conduct examinations as deemed necessary
by the commissioner for Rhode Island policyholder protection, which shall be accomplished
by comprehensive or targeted examinations of domestic insurers and targeted examinations
of foreign insurers, based on the results of market analysis. The commissioner may
delegate responsibility for conducting an examination of a domestic insurer, foreign
insurer, or an affiliate of an insurer to the insurance commissioner of another state
if that insurance commissioner agrees to accept the delegated responsibility for the
examination.
(b) The commissioner may delegate such responsibility to a commissioner of a state in
which the domestic insurer, foreign insurer, or affiliate has a significant number
of policies or significant premium volume.
(c) If the commissioner elected to delegate responsibility for examining an insurer, the
commissioner shall accept a report of the examination prepared by the commissioner
to whom the responsibility has been delegated.
(d) In lieu of conducting a market conduct examination of an insurer, the commissioner
shall accept a report of a market conduct examination on such insurer prepared by
the insurance commissioner of the insurer's state of domicile or another state, unless:
(1) The laws of that state applicable to the subject of the examination are not deemed
by the commissioner to be substantially similar to those of this state;
(2) The examining state does not have a market conduct surveillance system that the commissioner
deems comparable to the market conduct surveillance system required under this chapter;
or
(3) The examination from the other state's commissioner has not been conducted within
the past three (3) years.
(e) If the insurance commissioner or the designee to whom the examination responsibility
was delegated pursuant to subsection (a) or the report of a market conduct examination
prepared by the insurance commissioner of another state pursuant to subsection (d),
did not evaluate the specific area or issue of concern to the commissioner or a specific
requirement of Rhode Island law, the commissioner may pursue a targeted examination
or market analysis of the unexamined area pursuant to this statute.
(f) The commissioner's determination under subsection (d) is discretionary with the commissioner
and is not subject to appeal.
(g) Subject to a determination under subsection (d), if a market conduct examination conducted
by another state results in a finding that an insurer should modify a specific practice
or procedure, the commissioner shall accept documentation that the insurer has made
a similar modification in the state, in lieu of initiating a market conduct action
or examination related to that practice or procedure. The commissioner may require
other or additional practice or procedure modifications as are necessary to achieve
compliance with specific state laws or regulations that differ substantially from
those of the state that conducted the examination.