(1) Each insurer required by this chapter to file an annual audited financial report shall register with the commissioner in writing, within 60 days after becoming subject to this requirement, the name and address of the independent public accountant or accounting firm retained to conduct the annual audit under this chapter. Insurers not retaining an independent public accountant on the effective date of this chapter shall register the name and address of their retained independent public accountant not less than 6 months before the date when the first audited financial report is to be filed.

  (2) The insurer shall obtain a letter from the insurer’s independent public accountant and shall file a copy with the commissioner stating that the independent public accountant is aware of the insurance code’s provisions and the rules and regulations of the state of domicile’s insurance department that relate to accounting and financial matters and affirming that he or she will express his or her opinion on the financial statements as to whether they conform to the accounting practices prescribed or otherwise permitted by that department, specifying the exceptions as he or she believes appropriate.

  (3) If the independent public accountant for the immediately preceding filed audited financial report is dismissed or resigns, the insurer shall notify the commissioner within 5 business days of this event. The insurer shall also furnish the commissioner with a separate letter within 10 business days of the above notification stating whether in the 24 months preceding the event there were any disagreements with the former independent public accountant on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the former independent public accountant, would have caused the former independent public accountant to refer to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with his or her opinion. The disagreements required to be reported in response to this section include both those resolved to the former independent public accountant’s satisfaction and those not resolved to the former independent public accountant’s satisfaction. Disagreements contemplated by this section are those that occur at the decision-making level between personnel of the insurer responsible for presentation of its financial statements and personnel of the independent public accounting firm responsible for rendering its report. The insurer shall also request in writing the former independent public accountant to furnish a letter addressed to the insurer stating whether the independent public accountant agrees with the statements contained in the insurer’s letter and, if not, stating the reasons for which he or she does not agree. The insurer shall furnish this responsive letter from the former independent public accountant to the commissioner together with its own.