North Dakota Code 26.1-10.2-07 – Confidentiality
1. Any document, material, or other information, including the own risk and solvency assessment summary report, in the possession of or control of the insurance department which is obtained by, created by, or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person under this chapter, is recognized by this state as being proprietary and to contain trade secrets. Any such document, material, or other information is confidential and privileged, not subject to section 44-04-18, not subject to subpoena, and not subject to discovery and not admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the commissioner may use any document, material, or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner’s official duties. The commissioner may not otherwise make the document, material, or other information public without the prior written consent of the insurer.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 26.1-10.2-07
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Verified: means sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths. See North Dakota Code 1-01-42
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
2. Neither the commissioner nor any person that received any document, material, or other own risk and solvency assessment-related information, through examination or otherwise, while acting under the authority of the commissioner or with whom such document, material, or other information is shared under this chapter may be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential document, material, or information subject to subsection 1.
3. To assist in the performance of the commissioner’s regulatory duties, the commissioner:
a. Upon request, may share any document, material, or other own risk and solvency assessment-related information, including any confidential and privileged document, material, or information subject to subsection 1 and any proprietary and trade secret document and material with any other state, federal, or international financial regulatory agency, including a member of any supervisory college as defined in section 26.1-10-06.1, the national association of insurance commissioners, or any third-party consultant designated by the commissioner, provided the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the own risk and solvency assessment-related document, material, or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality.
b. May receive any document, material, or other own risk and solvency assessment- related information, including any otherwise confidential and privileged document, material, or information, and any proprietary and trade-secret information or document, from regulatory officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, including a member of any supervisory college as defined in section 26.1-10-06.1 or from the national association of insurance commissioners, and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, material, or information received with notice or the understanding it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material, or information.
c. Shall enter a written agreement with the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant governing sharing and use of information provided under this chapter, consistent with this subsection which must:
(1) Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant under this chapter, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the national association of insurance commissioners with other state regulators from states in which the insurance group has domiciled insurers. The agreement must provide the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of any own risk and solvency assessment-related document, material, or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality; (2) Specify ownership of information shared with the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant under this chapter remains with the commissioner and the national association of insurance commissioner’s or a third-party consultant’s use of the information is subject to the direction of the commissioner; (3) Prohibit the national association of insurance commissioners or third-party consultant from storing the information shared under this chapter in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed; (4) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer for which confidential information in the possession of the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant under this chapter is subject to a request or subpoena to the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant for disclosure or production; (5) Require the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant under this chapter; and
(6) In the case of an agreement involving a third-party consultant, provide for the insurer’s written consent.
4. The sharing of any information or document by the commissioner under this chapter does not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the commissioner is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of this chapter.
5. A waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in any document, proprietary and trade-secret material, or other own risk and solvency assessment-related information does not occur as a result of disclosure of the own risk and solvency assessment-related information or document to the commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in this chapter.
6. Any document, material, or other information in the possession or control of the national association of insurance commissioners or a third-party consultant under this chapter is confidential and privileged, not subject to section 44-04-18, not subject to subpoena, and not subject to discovery and not admissible in evidence in any private civil action.