AN ACT RELATIVE TO INSURANCE HOLDING COMPANIES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 175 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Insurance company” the following definition:-
“NAIC”, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or its successor organization.
SECTION 2. Section 206C of said chapter 175, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-
(x) (1) For purposes of this subsection, the term “supervisory college” shall mean a meeting of insurance regulators or supervisors to discuss regulatory oversight of 1 specific insurance group that is writing significant amounts of insurance in several jurisdictions to facilitate both the supervision of the group as a whole, on a group-wide basis, and to improve the legal entity supervision of the entities within the insurance group.
(2) With respect to any insurer registered under this section and in accordance with paragraph (4), the commissioner may participate in a supervisory college for any domestic insurer that is part of an insurance holding company system with international operations in order to determine compliance with this section by the insurer. The powers of the commissioner with respect to supervisory colleges shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(i) initiating the establishment of a supervisory college;
(ii) clarifying the membership and participation of other supervisors in the supervisory college;
(iii) clarifying the functions of the supervisory college and the role of other regulators, including the establishment of a group-wide supervisor;
(iv) coordinating the ongoing activities of the supervisory college, including planning meetings, supervisory activities and processes for information sharing; and
(v) establishing a crisis management plan.
(3) Each registered insurer subject to this subsection shall be liable for and shall pay the reasonable expenses of the commissioner’s participation in a supervisory college in accordance with paragraph (4), including reasonable travel expenses. For purposes of this section, a supervisory college may be convened as either a temporary or permanent forum for communication and cooperation between the regulators charged with the supervision of the insurer or its affiliates and the commissioner may establish a regular assessment to the insurer for the payment of these expenses.
(4) In order to assess the business strategy, financial position, legal and regulatory position, risk exposure, risk management and governance processes, and as part of the examination of individual insurers in accordance with subsection (u), the commissioner may participate in a supervisory college with other regulators charged with supervision of the insurer or its affiliates, including other state, federal and international regulatory agencies. The commissioner may enter into agreements providing the basis for cooperation between the commissioner and the other regulatory agencies and the activities of the supervisory college. Nothing in this subsection shall delegate to the supervisory college the authority of the commissioner to regulate or supervise the insurer or its affiliates within its jurisdiction.
Approved, January 6, 2015.