(a) All information, documents, and copies thereof obtained by or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to Section 1215.4, 1215.5, 1215.6, 1215.7, or 1215.75, and all information reported or provided pursuant to Section 1215.4, 1215.5, 1215.6, 1215.7, or 1215.75 are recognized as being proprietary and containing trade secrets, shall be kept confidential, are not subject to disclosure by the commissioner pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code), are not subject to subpoena, and are not subject to discovery from the commissioner or admissible into evidence in a private civil action if obtained from the commissioner. This information shall not be made public by the commissioner or any other person, except to insurance departments of other states, without the prior written consent of the insurance company to which it pertains, unless the commissioner, after giving the insurer and its affiliates who would be affected thereby notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interests of policyholders, shareholders, or the public will be served by the publication of the information, in which event the commissioner may publish all or any part of the information in a manner as the commissioner may deem appropriate.

(1) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department pursuant to subdivisions (n) and (o) of Section 1215.4, the commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of the group capital calculation, the group capital ratio produced within the calculation, and any group capital information received from an insurance holding company system supervised by the Federal Reserve Board or a United States groupwide supervisor.

(2) For purposes of the information reported and provided to the department pursuant to subdivision (p) of Section 1215.4, the commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of the liquidity stress test results, supporting disclosures, and any liquidity stress test information received from an insurance holding company system supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and non-United States groupwide supervisors.

(b) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner’s duties, the commissioner:

(1) May, upon request, be required to share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subdivision (a), including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with the NAIC, with a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory college described in Section 1215.7, provided 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.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), may only share confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information reported pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section 1215.4 with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subdivision (a) and who have agreed in writing not to disclose the information.

(3) May receive documents, materials, or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information, including proprietary and trade secret information, from the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, 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 documents, materials, or information.

(4) May enter into written agreements with the NAIC and a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this subdivision consistent with this subdivision that shall do the following:

(A) Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to this subdivision, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal, or international regulators. 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 its confidentiality.

(B) Specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to this subdivision remains with the commissioner and the NAIC’s or third-party consultant’s use of the information is subject to the direction of the commissioner.

(C) Prohibit the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner from storing the information shared pursuant to this article in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed, except for the documents, materials, or information reported pursuant to subdivision (p) of Section 1215.4.

(D) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to this subdivision is subject to a request or subpoena to the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner for disclosure or production.

(E) Require the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to this subdivision.

(F) For an agreement with a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner, provide for notification of the identity of the consultant to applicable insurers reporting or submitting documents, materials, or information pursuant to subdivision (p) of Section 1215.4.

(c) The sharing of information by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision (b) shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the commissioner is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of the provisions of this article.

(d) A waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or information shall not occur as a result of disclosure to the commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subdivision (b).

(e) Documents, materials, or other information filed in the possession or control of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the commissioner pursuant to this subdivision shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.

(f) (1) The group capital calculation and resulting group capital ratio required pursuant to subdivision (n) of Section 1215.4 and the liquidity stress test, along with its results and supporting disclosures, required pursuant to subdivision (p) of Section 1215.4 are regulatory tools for assessing group risks and capital adequacy and group liquidity risks, respectively, and are not intended as a means to rank insurers or insurance holding company systems generally.

(2) Except as otherwise required by this article, an insurer, broker, or other person engaged in the insurance business shall not make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the public, or directly or indirectly cause to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, or poster, over a radio or television station or any electronic means of communication available to the public, or in any other way as an advertisement, announcement, or statement containing a representation or statement with regard to the group capital calculation, group capital ratio, liquidity stress test results, supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test of an insurer or an insurer group, or of any component derived in the calculation.

(3) If a materially false statement regarding an insurer’s or insurer group’s group capital calculation, resulting group capital ratio, liquidity stress test result, or supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test, or an inappropriate comparison of any amount to an insurer’s or insurance group’s group capital calculation, resulting group capital ratio, liquidity stress test result, or liquidity stress test supporting disclosures, is published in a written publication and the insurer is able to demonstrate to the commissioner with substantial proof the falsity or inappropriateness of the statement, then the insurer, notwithstanding paragraph (2), may publish announcements in a written publication if the sole purpose of the announcement is to rebut the materially false statement.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 28, Sec. 117. (SB 1380) Effective January 1, 2023.)