TITLE 41

INSURANCE

CHAPTER 38

ACQUISITIONS OF CONTROL AND INSURANCE HOLDING COMPANY SYSTEMS

41-3816.  Confidential treatment. (1) Documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the department that are obtained by or disclosed to the director or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to section 41-3814, Idaho Code, and all information reported or provided to the department pursuant to sections 41-3804(2), 41-3809, 41-3810, and 41-3815A, Idaho Code, shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall be exempt from public disclosure, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the director is authorized to use such documents, materials or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the director’s official duties. The director shall not otherwise make the documents, materials or other information public without the prior written consent of the insurer to which it pertains, unless the director, after giving the insurer and its affiliates who would be affected notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interest of policyholders, shareholders or the public will be served by the publication, in which event the director may publish all or any part in such manner as may be deemed appropriate.

(2)  Neither the director nor any person who receives documents, materials or other information while acting under the authority of the director or with whom such documents, materials or other information is shared pursuant to this chapter, shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials or information subject to subsection (1) of this section.

(3)  In order to assist in the performance of the director’s duties under title 41, Idaho Code, the director:

(a)  May share documents, materials or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials or information subject to subsection (1) of this section, with other state, federal and international regulatory agencies, with the national association of insurance commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state, federal and international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory college described in section 41-3815, Idaho Code, provided that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality;

(b)  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3)(a) of this section, the director may only share confidential and privileged documents, materials or information reported pursuant to section 41-3809(12), Idaho Code, with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to subsection (1) of this section and who have agreed in writing not to disclose such information;

(c)  May receive documents, materials or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials or information, from the national association of insurance commissioners 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 document, material 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 document, material or information; and

(d)  Shall enter into written agreements with the national association of insurance commissioners governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to the provisions of this chapter consistent with this subsection, which agreements shall:

(i)   Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the national association of insurance commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this chapter, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the national association of insurance commissioners with other state, federal or international regulators;

(ii)  Specify that ownership of information shared with the national association of insurance commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this chapter remains with the director, and the national association of insurance commissioners’ use of the information is subject to the direction of the director;

(iii) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information is in the possession of the national association of insurance commissioners pursuant to this chapter that disclosure of such confidential information has been requested or subpoenaed or otherwise sought; and

(iv)  Require the national association of insurance commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial, administrative or similar action in which the national association of insurance commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the national association of insurance commissioners and the insurer’s affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this chapter.

(4)  The sharing of information by the director pursuant to this chapter shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the director is solely responsible for the administration, execution and enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.

(5)  No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials or information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the director under the provisions of this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (3) of this section.

(6)  Documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the national association of insurance commissioners pursuant to this chapter shall be confidential and privileged, shall not be a public record, shall not be subject to public disclosure, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.

History:

[41-3816, added 2013, ch. 266, sec. 2, p. 671; am. 2019, ch. 81, sec. 3, p. 192.]