§337. Refusal, suspension, and revocation of certificate of authority

            A. The commissioner of insurance may refuse, suspend, or revoke the certificate of authority of a foreign or alien insurer, or he may levy a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars for each violation or twenty-five thousand dollars in the aggregate in lieu of refusal, suspension, or revocation of the certificate of authority, whenever he shall find that the insurer:

            (1) Is insolvent;

            (2) Fails to comply with the requirements for admission in respect to capital, contingent liability, the investment of its assets or the maintenance of deposits in this or another state or fails to maintain the surplus which similar domestic insurers transacting the same kind or kinds of business are required to maintain;

            (3) Is in such a condition that its further transaction of business in this state would be hazardous to policyholders and creditors in this state and to the public;

            (4) Has refused or neglected to pay a valid final judgment against such insurer within sixty days after the rendition of such judgment;

            (5) Has violated any law of this state or has in this state violated its charter or exceeded its corporate powers;

            (6) Has refused to submit its books, papers, accounts, records, or affairs to the reasonable inspection or examination of the commissioner of insurance, his actuaries, supervisors, deputies or examiners;

            (7) Has an officer who has refused upon reasonable demand to be examined under oath touching its affairs;

            (8) Fails to file its annual statement within sixty days after the date when it is required by law to file such statement;

            (9) Fails to file a copy of an amendment to its charter or articles of incorporation within sixty days after the effective date of such amendment, in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart;

            (10) Fails to file copies of the agreement and certificate of merger and the financial statements of the merged insurers, if required, within sixty days after the effective date of the merger, as provided in this Subpart;

            (11) Fails to pay any fees, taxes or charges prescribed by this Code within sixty days after they are due and payable; provided, however, that in case of objection or legal contest the insurer shall not be required to pay the tax until sixty days after final disposition of the objection or legal contest;

            (12) Fails to file any report or reports for the purpose of enabling the commissioner of insurance to compute the taxes to be paid by such insurer within sixty days after the date when it is required by law to file such report or reports;

            (13) Has had its corporate existence dissolved or its certificate of authority revoked or suspended in the state in which it was organized or in any other state in which it is admitted;

            (14) Has had all its risks reinsured in their entirety in another insurer;

            (15) Refuses to remove or discharge a director or officer who has been convicted of any crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or like moral turpitude; or

            (16) Is affiliated with and under the same general management, or interlocking directorate, or ownership as another insurer which transacts insurance in this state without having a certificate of authority therefor, except as is permitted by this Code.

            (17) Fails to maintain a claims office for processing workers' compensation insurance claims in this state, as required by R.S. 23:1161.1, or to retain the services of a claims adjuster who possesses a Louisiana license. This Paragraph shall not apply to reinsurers licensed or accredited to do business in the state.

            (18) Fails to require its producers to maintain licensure as producers as provided by law or by regulation of the Department of Insurance.

            (19) Fails to file required biographical information within sixty days of the appointment of officers and directors appointed after issuance of the certificate of authority.

            B. Except for the grounds stated in Paragraphs (1), (11), (13), and (14) of Subsection A of this Section, the commissioner of insurance shall not revoke or suspend the certificate of authority of a foreign or alien insurer until he has given the insurer at least thirty days notice of the proposed revocation or suspension and of the grounds therefor and has afforded the insurer an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with Chapter 12 of this Title, R.S. 22:2191 et seq.

            C. Upon such refusal, suspension or revocation, the commissioner of insurance shall likewise refuse, suspend or revoke the authority of the insurer's agents in this state and give notice thereof to such agents.

            D. The commissioner of insurance shall not suspend an insurer's certificate of authority for a period in excess of one year, and he shall state in his order of suspension the period during which it shall be effective.

            E. No insurer whose certificate of authority has been suspended, revoked, or refused shall subsequently be authorized unless the grounds for such suspension, revocation, or refusal no longer exist and the insurer is otherwise fully qualified.

            F.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, the commissioner shall refuse to issue, suspend, or revoke the certificate of authority of a foreign or alien insurer if the commissioner finds that a person is serving as an officer, director, or person with direct or indirect control over the selection or appointment of an officer or director, through contract, trust, or by operation of law, of an insurer doing business in this state, and the person served in that capacity within the two-year period prior to the date the insurer became insolvent, unless the person demonstrates that his personal actions and omissions were not a significant contributing cause to the insurer's insolvency, as determined by the commissioner.

            (2) The commissioner may issue a certificate of authority to a foreign or alien insurer that has a person serving as an officer, director, or person with direct or indirect control over the selection or appointment of an officer or director, and the person previously served in that capacity for an insurer that became insolvent, and at least five years have passed from the date the insurer became insolvent.

            G. For the purpose of this Section, "personal action" means any breach of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon a person by virtue of his position.

            Acts 1958, No. 125; Acts 1960, No. 152, §1; Acts 1990, No. 680, §1, eff. July 20, 1990; Acts 1993, No. 811, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1229, §1; Acts 2001, No. 276, §1; Acts 2003, No. 130, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 22:987 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, No. 317, §1; Acts 2009, No. 503, §1; Acts 2021, No. 255, §1; Acts 2022, No. 68, §1; Acts 2023, No. 47, §1.

NOTE: Former R.S. 22:337 redesignated as R.S. 22:197 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.