West Virginia Code 33-33-11 – Definition, availability and maintenance of independent certified public accountant workpapers
(a) Workpapers are the records kept by the independent certified public accountant of the procedures followed, the tests performed, the information obtained, and the conclusions reached pertinent to the accountant's audit of the financial statements of an insurer. Workpapers may include audit planning documentation, work programs, analyses, memoranda, letters of confirmation and representation, abstracts of company documents and schedules or commentaries prepared or obtained by the independent certified public accountant in the course of his or her audit of the financial statements of an insurer and which support the accountant's opinion.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 33-33-11
- Audited financial report: means and includes those items specified in section four of this article. See West Virginia Code 33-33-2
- independent certified public accountant: means an independent certified public accountant or accounting firm in good standing with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and in all states in which the accountant is licensed to practice. See West Virginia Code 33-33-2
- Insurer: means any domestic insurer as defined in section six, article one of this chapter and includes any domestic stock insurance company, mutual insurance company, reciprocal insurance company, farmers" mutual fire insurance company, fraternal benefit society, hospital service corporation, medical service corporation, health care corporation, health maintenance organization, captive insurance company or risk retention group and any licensed foreign or alien insurer defined in article one of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 33-33-2
(b) Every insurer required to file an audited financial report pursuant to this article shall require the accountant to make available for review by the commissioner all workpapers prepared in the conduct of the accountant's audit and any communications related to the audit between the accountant and the insurer, at the offices of the insurer, at the insurance department or at any other reasonable place designated by the commissioner. The insurer shall require that the accountant retain the audit workpapers and communications until the commissioner has filed a report of examination, as required by section nine, article two of this chapter, covering the period of the audit but no longer than seven years from the date of the audit report.
(c) In the conduct of the aforementioned periodic review by the commissioner, it shall be agreed that copies of pertinent audit workpapers may be made and retained by the commissioner. Reviews by the commissioner shall be considered investigations and all workpapers and communications obtained during the course of such investigations shall be afforded the same confidentiality as other examination workpapers generated by the commissioner.