Nebraska Statutes 44-320. Domestic company; officers and directors; borrowing and sales to company prohibited; exception
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) through (6) of this section, no director or officer of any domestic insurance company shall directly or indirectly receive any money or valuable consideration for negotiating any loan for the company or for selling or aiding in the sale of any property to or by the company and no such director or officer shall directly or indirectly borrow money from, purchase any property from, or sell any property to the company.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 44-320
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Company: shall include any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint-stock company, joint venture, or association. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Company shall: include any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint-stock company, joint venture, or association. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Director: shall mean the Director of Insurance. See Nebraska Statutes 44-103
- Domestic: when applied to corporations shall mean all those created by authority of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- 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.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Year: shall mean calendar year. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
(2)(a) Nothing in this section shall prevent any domestic insurance company from making a loan to an officer of the company for the purchase of a principal residence or acquiring the principal residence of an officer in connection with the relocation of the officer’s place of employment at the request of the company either during the course of employment or upon initial employment of such officer. Any loan permitted under this subsection shall be secured by a first trust deed or first mortgage and shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the market value of the property. Any acquisition permitted under this subsection shall not exceed the market value of the property.
(b) For purposes of this subsection, market value shall mean the market value of real estate as determined by a real property appraiser credentialed by the Real Property Appraiser Board.
(c) Any loan or acquisition permitted under this subsection shall be subject to (i) the approval of the domestic insurance company’s board of directors or a delegated committee of the company and (ii) prior written approval of the Director of Insurance based upon written application by the company including full and fair disclosure of the terms of the transaction. Approval of such transaction by the Director of Insurance shall be presumed unless notice of disapproval is received by the applicant within thirty days of the filing of the application. Approval of such transaction may be denied if the director finds that it is not in the best interest of the company or that the terms of the transaction are not fair and reasonable to the company.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent any director or officer of any domestic insurance company from purchasing from his or her company an insurance policy or annuity contract if (a) the purchase is in the ordinary course of the company’s business and subject to all of the requirements normally imposed by the company in the sale of such policies and contracts and (b) no discount granted to the director or officer in connection with the purchase is greater than discounts provided to other employees of the company in connection with the sale of similar policies and contracts.
(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent any director or officer of any domestic insurance company from purchasing from his or her company surplus personal property having a total purchase price not in excess of ten thousand dollars in any calendar year if the personal property is sold to the director or officer at not less than its fair market value.
(5) Nothing in this section shall prevent any director or officer of any domestic insurance company from selling to his or her company property of any type or nature having a total purchase price not in excess of ten thousand dollars in any calendar year if the sale is in the ordinary course of business of the director’s or officer’s business and if the property is sold to the company at not more than its fair market value.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in this section, if any director or officer of any domestic insurance company desires to borrow money from, purchase any property from, or sell any property to the company in excess of ten thousand dollars in any calendar year, the company shall file an application with the Director of Insurance requesting written approval to engage in such transaction. The application shall set out the names of all of the parties interested in the transaction and the respective percentage of interest of each party, a brief description of the nature of the transaction, and a full disclosure of all consideration given or received by the company in connection with such transaction. The application shall be a public record open to public inspection from the date of filing. If the transaction is not approved or disapproved by the director within thirty days from the date of filing, the transaction shall be deemed disapproved. In determining whether to approve or disapprove such transaction, the director shall consider the following factors:
(a)(i) The fact that the transaction has been disclosed or made known to the board of directors of the company or a delegated committee of the company which must authorize approval or ratify the transaction by a vote or consent sufficient for the purpose without counting the vote or consent of any interested director or officer; and
(ii) If applicable, the fact of such transaction has been disclosed or made known to the shareholders entitled to vote and they authorize approval or ratify such transaction by vote or written consent; or
(b)(i) The transaction is fair and reasonable to the company; and
(ii) The transaction is of a nature normally engaged in by the company and the consideration is fair and reasonable.
(7) The Director of Insurance may proceed in a court of competent jurisdiction against a domestic insurance company to reverse or hold invalid a transaction made in violation of subsection (6) of this section unless the transaction was approved pursuant to such subsection.
(8) In addition to other remedies and penalties available under the law of this state, each violation of this section shall be an unfair trade practice in the business of insurance subject to the Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act.