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The Vermont Statutes Online
Title
08
:
Banking and Insurance
Chapter
101
:
INSURANCE COMPANIES GENERALLY
Subchapter
013
:
HOLDING COMPANIES AND SUBSIDIARIES
§
3687. Confidential treatment
(a) Documents,
materials, or other information in the possession or control of the Department
that are obtained by or disclosed to the Commissioner or any other person in
the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to section 3686 of
this title and all information reported pursuant to subdivisions 3683(b)(12)
and (13), section 3684, and section 3685 of this title shall be given
confidential treatment, shall not be subject to subpoena, shall not be subject to
public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act, shall not be
subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action, and
shall not be made public by the Commissioner or any other person. However, the
Commissioner is authorized to use the documents, materials, or other
information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a
part of the Commissioner's official duties. The Commissioner shall not
otherwise make the documents, materials, or other information public without
the prior written consent of the insurer to which it pertains unless the
Commissioner, after giving the insurer and its affiliates who would be affected
thereby notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interests of
policyholders, shareholders, or the public will be served by the publication
thereof, in which event he or she may publish all or any part thereof in such
manner as he or she may deem appropriate.
(b) Neither the
Commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials, or other
information while acting under the authority of the Commissioner or with whom
such documents, materials, or other information are shared pursuant to this
chapter shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action
concerning any confidential documents, materials, or information subject to
subsection (a) of this section.
(c) In order to
assist in the performance of the Commissioner's duties, the Commissioner:
(1) may share
documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and
privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (a) of
this section, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies,
with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state, federal, and
international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory
college described in section 3695 of this title, provided that the recipient
agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the
document, material, or other information and has verified in writing the legal
authority to maintain confidentiality;
(2)
notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, may only share confidential
and privileged documents, material, or information reported pursuant to
subsection 3684(m) of this chapter with commissioners of states having statutes
or regulations substantially similar to subsection (a) of this section and who
have agreed in writing not to disclose such information;
(3) may receive
documents, materials, or information, including otherwise confidential and
privileged documents, materials, or information, from the NAIC and its
affiliates and subsidiaries and from regulatory and law enforcement officials
of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions and shall maintain as confidential
or privileged any document, material, or information received with notice or
the understanding that it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the
jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material, or information; and
(4) shall enter
into written agreements with the NAIC governing sharing and use of information
provided under this chapter consistent with this subsection that shall:
(A) specify
procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information
shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this
section, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other
state, federal, or international regulators;
(B) specify that
ownership of information shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and
subsidiaries pursuant to this section remains with the Commissioner and the
NAIC's use of the information is subject to the direction of the Commissioner;
(C) require
prompt notice be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the
possession of the NAIC under this section is subject to a request or subpoena
to the NAIC for disclosure or production; and
(D) require the
NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries to consent to intervention by an
insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the NAIC and its
affiliates and subsidiaries may be required to disclose confidential
information about the insurer shared with the NAIC and its affiliates and
subsidiaries pursuant to this section.
(d) The sharing of
information by the Commissioner pursuant to this section shall not constitute a
delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the Commissioner is
solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the
provisions of this section.
(e) No waiver of
any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents,
materials, or information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the
Commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in
subsection (c) of this section.
(f) Documents,
materials, or other information in the possession or control of the NAIC
pursuant to this section shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not
be subject to public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act, shall
not be subject to subpoena, shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in
evidence in any private civil action, and shall not be made public by the
Commissioner or any other person. (Added 1971, No. 72, § 2; amended 2013, No.
29, § 33, eff. May 13, 2013.)
