West Virginia Code 33-8A-3 – Use of book-entry systems and clearing corporations
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a domestic insurance company may deposit or arrange for the deposit of securities held in or purchased for its general account and its separate accounts in a clearing corporation or the federal reserve book-entry system. When securities are deposited with a clearing corporation, certificates representing securities of the same class of the same issuer may be merged and held in bulk in the name of the nominee of the clearing corporation with any other securities deposited with the clearing corporation by any person, regardless of the ownership of the securities, and certificates representing securities of small denominations may be merged into one or more certificates of larger denominations. The records of any custodian through which an insurance company holds securities in the federal reserve book-entry system or a clearing corporation shall at all times show that the securities are held for the insurance company and for which accounts. Ownership of, and other interests in, the securities may be transferred by bookkeeping entry on the books of such clearing corporation or in the federal reserve book-entry system without, in either case, physical delivery of certificates representing the securities.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 33-8A-3
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Custodian: means :
(A) A national bank, state bank or trust company that shall at all times during which it acts as a custodian pursuant to this article be no less than adequately capitalized as determined by the standards adopted by United States banking regulators and that is regulated by either state banking laws or is a member of the Federal Reserve System and that is legally qualified to accept custody of securities in accordance with the standards set forth below, except that with respect to securities issued by institutions organized or existing under the laws of a foreign country, "custodian" may include a bank or trust company incorporated or organized under the laws of a country other than the United States that is regulated as such by that country'. See West Virginia Code 33-8A-2
- Federal reserve book-entry system: means the computerized systems sponsored by the United States Department of the Treasury and certain agencies and instrumentalities of the United States for holding and transferring securities of the United States government and such agencies and instrumentalities, respectively, in federal reserve banks and through banks which are members of the Federal Reserve System or which otherwise have access to such computerized systems. See West Virginia Code 33-8A-2
- Securities: means certificated securities as defined in subdivision (4), subsection (a), section one hundred two, article eight, chapter . See West Virginia Code 33-8A-2
(b) The Commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules governing the deposit of securities by insurance companies and custodians with clearing corporations and in the federal reserve book-entry system.