(a)

(1) The Insurance Commissioner shall enter, in permanent form, records of his or her official transactions, examinations, investigations, and proceedings and keep these records in his or her office.

(2) These records and insurance filings in his or her office shall be open to public inspection, except as otherwise provided in the Arkansas Insurance Code with respect to particular records or filings.

(3) Confidential data and reports provided to the commissioner by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, including, but not limited to, insurers' Insurance Regulatory Information System ratios and examiner team synopses, shall be deemed privileged communications. These data and reports shall not be open to public inspection and shall not be admissible in evidence in any action or proceeding, other than those brought by the commissioner, nor shall any insurers, agents, or brokers, which may be the subject of the confidential reports, have a cause of action against the commissioner or his or her deputies, examiners, assistants, or employees or against the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or its members, subscribers, officers, directors, assistants, or employees by reason of the furnishing of any such information to the commissioner.

(4) The commissioner shall maintain as confidential, and not subject to subpoena, financial information regarding material transactions of insurers, as defined in § 23-63-1403 or other applicable laws or regulations promulgated by the commissioner.

(5) (A) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner's duties, the commissioner may:

(i) Share documents, materials, or other information, including confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information, with other state, federal, and international regulatory and legislative agencies, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, provided that the recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material, communication, or other information;

(ii) Receive documents, materials, communications, 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, legislative, and law enforcement officials of other foreign, alien, 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 document, material, or information; and

(iii) Enter into agreements governing sharing and use of information consistent with this subsection.

(B) 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 commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized by this subsection.

(C) A privilege established under the law of any state or jurisdiction that is substantially similar to the privilege established under this subsection shall be available and enforced in any proceeding in, and in any court of, this state.

(b) The commissioner may destroy or otherwise dispose of records and filings in his or her office in accordance with such rules and procedures as provided by other applicable laws.

(c)

(1) Upon request of any person and upon payment of the applicable fee, the commissioner shall give a certified copy of any record in his or her office which is then open to public inspection.

(2) Copies of original records or documents in his or her office certified by the commissioner shall be received in evidence in all courts as if they were originals.

(3) The commissioner's certificate as to the authority of any person to transact insurance shall be evidence in all courts of the facts set forth therein.

(d) In lieu of original signatures of records and filings, as required by pertinent provisions of the Arkansas Insurance Code, which are permitted to be reproduced in electronic, diskette, or computer-readable form acceptable to the commissioner, the commissioner in his or her discretion may accept electronic, electronic facsimile-transmitted, or computer-readable signatures subject to such conditions and terms as he or she may determine.