Before issuing a certificate of authority to a domestic insurer, the commissioner shall be satisfied, by such examination and evidence as he sees fit to make and require, that the whole amount of the capital stock set forth in the certificate of incorporation and the required minimum surplus of the insurer, if a stock company, has been actually paid in cash, and is possessed by the company in money, or in stocks, bonds, or bonds and mortgages authorized for insurers by chapter 20 of this code; or, if a mutual company, that it has received and is in possession of the cash premiums, and bona fide engagements for insurance to the extent and of the value required in section 17B:18-36

L.1971, c. 144, s. 17B:18-41