(a)

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 56-9-106

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-9-103
  • Delinquency proceeding: means any proceeding instituted against an insurer for the purpose of liquidating, rehabilitating, reorganizing or conserving the insurer, and any summary proceeding under §. See Tennessee Code 56-9-103
  • Insurer: means any person who has done, purports to do, is doing or is licensed to do an insurance business, and is or has been subject to the authority of, or to liquidation, rehabilitation, reorganization, supervision, or conservation by, any insurance commissioner. See Tennessee Code 56-9-103
  • 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: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds-type organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Tennessee Code 56-16-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(1) Any officer, manager, director, trustee, owner, employee or agent of any insurer, or any other persons with authority over, or in charge of, any segment of the insurer’s affairs, shall cooperate with the commissioner in any proceeding under this chapter or any investigation preliminary to the proceeding.
(2) As used in this section:

(A) “Person” includes any person who exercises control directly or indirectly over activities of the insurer through any holding company or other affiliate of the insurer; and
(B) “To cooperate” includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(i) To reply promptly in writing to any inquiry from the commissioner requesting such a reply; and
(ii) To make available to the commissioner any books, accounts, documents, or other records or information or property of, or pertaining to, the insurer and in the person’s possession, custody or control.
(b) No person shall obstruct or interfere with the commissioner in the conduct of any delinquency proceeding or any investigation preliminary or incidental thereto.
(c) This section shall not be construed to abridge otherwise existing legal rights, including the right to resist a petition for liquidation or other delinquency proceedings, or other orders.
(d) Any person included within subsection (a) who willfully and wrongfully obstructs or interferes with the commissioner in the conduct of any delinquency proceeding or any investigation preliminary or incidental thereto, or who violates any order the commissioner issued validly under this chapter may:

(1) Be sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to pay a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or be punished for a Class E felony, or both; or
(2) After a hearing, be subject to the imposition by the commissioner of a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and shall be subject further to the revocation or suspension of any insurance licenses issued by the commissioner.