(1) Documents, materials, or other information, including the own risk and solvency assessment summary report, in the possession or control of the director that are obtained by, created by, or disclosed to the director or any other person under the Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment Act, is recognized by this state as being proprietary and to contain trade secrets. All such documents, materials, or other information shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be a public record subject to disclosure by the director pursuant to sections 84-712 to 84-712.09, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. The director may use the documents, materials, or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the director’s official duties. The director shall not otherwise make the documents, materials, or other information public without the prior written consent of the insurer.

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Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 44-9010

  • Action: shall include any proceeding in any court of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Director: shall mean the Director of Insurance. See Nebraska Statutes 44-103
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Domestic: when applied to corporations shall mean all those created by authority of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • 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.
  • Foreign: when applied to corporations shall include all those created by authority other than that of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Insurer: shall include all companies, exchanges, societies, or associations whether organized on the stock, mutual, assessment, or fraternal plan of insurance and reciprocal insurance exchanges. See Nebraska Statutes 44-103
  • 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: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Process: shall mean a summons, subpoena, or notice to appear issued out of a court in the course of judicial proceedings. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • 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
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.

(2) Neither the director nor any person who received documents, materials, or other own risk and solvency assessment related information through examination or otherwise while acting under the authority of the director or with whom such documents, materials, or other information are shared pursuant to the act shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (1) of this section.

(3) In order to assist in the performance of the director’s regulatory duties, the director:

(a) May, upon request, share documents, materials, or other own risk and solvency assessment information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (1) of this section, including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, with other state, federal, and international financial regulatory agencies, including members of any supervisory college under section 44-2137.01, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and with any third-party consultants designated by the director, if the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality; and

(b) May receive documents, materials, or other own risk and solvency assessment information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information, including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, from regulatory officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, including members of any supervisory college under section 44-2137.01, and from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any documents, materials, or information received with notice or the understanding that it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material, or information.

(4) The director shall enter into a written agreement with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to the act that:

(a) Specifies procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant pursuant to the act, 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 shall provide that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality;

(b) Specifies that ownership of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant pursuant to the act remains with the director and that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ or a third-party consultant’s use of the information is subject to the direction of the director;

(c) Prohibits the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant from storing the information shared pursuant to the act in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed;

(d) Requires prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant pursuant to the act is subject to a request or subpoena to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant for disclosure or production;

(e) Requires 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 pursuant to the act; and

(f) As part of the retention process, requires a third-party consultant to verify to the director, with notice to the insurer, that it is free of any conflict of interest and that it has internal procedures in place to monitor compliance with any conflicts and to comply with the act’s confidentiality standards and requirements. The retention agreement with a third-party consultant shall require prior written consent of the insurer before making public any information provided pursuant to the act as required in subsection (1) of this section.

(5) The sharing of information and documents by the director pursuant to the act shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the director is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions of the act.

(6) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or other own risk and solvency assessment information shall occur as a result of disclosure of such documents, materials, or other information to the director under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in the act.

(7) Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or a third-party consultant pursuant to the act shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be a public record subject to disclosure by the director pursuant to sections 84-712 to 84-712.09, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.