§ 33-13-8. Confidentiality of Information and Documents Obtained During Examinations or Investigations; Sharing Certain Information; Not Delegation of Regulatory Authority or Rule Making; Responsibility for Enforcement

1. 1. 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 Code Section 33-13-6 and all information reported or provided to the department pursuant to paragraphs (12) and (13) of subsection (b) of Code Section 33-13-3 and Code Sections 33-13-4, 33-13-5, and 33-13-7.1 are recognized by this state as being proprietary and to contain trade secrets, and shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to public disclosure under Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. 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 that would be affected thereby notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interest of policyholders, shareholders, or the public will be served by the publication thereof, in which event the Commissioner may publish all or any part in such manner as may be deemed appropriate.
   2. For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4, the Commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of the group capital calculation and group capital ratio produced within the calculation and any group capital information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board or any United States group-wide supervisor.
   3. For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4, the Commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of the liquidity stress test results and supporting disclosures and any liquidity stress test information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and non-United States group-wide supervisors.
2. 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 article shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or other information subject to subsection (a) of this Code section.
3. 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 other information subject to subsection (a) of this Code section, and including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with the NAIC, any third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner, and state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory college described in Code Section 33-13-7, 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 paragraph (1) of this subsection, may only share confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information reported pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4 with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection (a) of this Code section and who have agreed in writing not to disclose such information;
   3. May receive documents, materials, or other information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information, including proprietary and trade secret information from the NAIC and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, material, or other 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 other information; and
   4. Shall enter into written agreements with the NAIC and any third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this article consistent with this subsection that shall:
      1. Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this article, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies. The agreement shall provide that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain such confidentiality;
      2. Specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this article remains with the Commissioner and that the NAIC’s or designated third-party consultant’s use of the information is subject to the direction of the Commissioner;
      3. Excluding documents, materials, or information reported pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4, prohibit the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner from storing the information shared pursuant to this article in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed;
      4. Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this article is subject to a request or subpoena to the NAIC a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner for disclosure or production;
      5. Require the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this article; and
      6. For documents, materials, or information reporting pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4, in the case of an agreement with a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner, provide for notification of the identity of the consultant to the applicable insurers.
4. The sharing of information by the Commissioner pursuant to this article shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rule making, and the Commissioner is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
5. No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or other information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the Commissioner under this Code section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (c) of this Code section.
6. Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this article shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to the open records laws, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.
7. The group capital calculation and resulting group capital ratio required under paragraph (2) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4 and the liquidity stress test along with its results and supporting disclosures required under paragraph (3) of subsection (l) of Code Section 33-13-4 are regulatory tools for assessing group risks and capital adequacy and group liquidity risks, respectively, and are not intended as a means to rank insurers or insurance company systems generally. Therefore, except as otherwise may be required under the provisions of this article, the making, publishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, or poster, or over any radio or television station or any electronic means of communication available to the public, or in any other way as an advertisement, announcement, or statement containing a representation or statement with regard to the group capital calculation, group capital ratio, the liquidity stress test results, or supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test of any insurer or any insurer group, or of any component derived in the calculation by any insurer, broker, or other person engaged in any manner in the insurance business would be misleading and is therefore prohibited; provided, however, that if any materially false statement with respect to the group capital calculation, resulting group capital ratio, an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer’s or insurance group’s group capital calculation or resulting group capital ratio, liquidity stress test result, supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test, or an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer’s or insurance group’s liquidity stress test result or supporting disclosures is published in any written publication and the insurer is able to demonstrate to the Commissioner with substantial proof the falsity of such statement or the inappropriateness, as the case may be, then the insurer may publish announcements in a written publication if the sole purpose of the announcement is to rebut the materially false statement.

History. Code 1933, § 56-3407, enacted by Ga. L. 1970, p. 257, § 1; Code 1981, § 33-13-7 ; Code 1981, § 33-13-8 , as redesignated by Ga. L. 2013, p. 802, § 1/HB 312; Ga. L. 2015, p. 608, § 3/SB 108; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1045, § 3/HB 491; Ga. L. 2022, p. 258, § 5/HB 969.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, inserted “or provided to the department” in the middle and substituted “Code Section 33-13-3 and Code Sections 33-13-4, 33-13-5, and 33-13-7.1” for “Code Section 33-13-3, Code Section 33-13-4, and Code Section 33-13-5”.

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, redesignated the existing provisions of subsection (a) as paragraph (a)(1), inserted “are recognized by this state as being proprietary and to contain trade secrets, and” in the first sentence in paragraph (a)(1), added paragraph (a)(2); inserted “and including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials,” and substituted “NAIC, any third party consultant designated by the Commissioner, and” for “National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with” in paragraph (c)(1), inserted “paragraph (1) of” in paragraph (c)(2), substituted “including proprietary and trade secret information from the NAIC” for “from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries” in paragraph (c)(3), rewrote paragraph (c)(4); substituted “NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner” for “National Association of Insurance Commissioners” in subsection (f); and added subsection (g).

Cross references.

Privileged communications generally, § 24-5-506 .

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2013, p. 802, § 1/HB 312, effective July 1, 2013, redesignated former Code Section 33-13-8 as present Code Section 33-13-9.

Administrative rules and regulations.

Insurance holding company regulations, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Commissioner of Insurance, Chapter 120-2-23.