(1) "Insurer" means any person, firm, association, or corporation duly licensed in this state as an insurance company pursuant to the applicable provisions of the insurance laws.

(2) (a) "Managing general agent", referred to in this part 10 as "MGA", means any person, firm, association, or corporation who negotiates and binds ceding reinsurance contracts on behalf of an insurer or manages all or part of the insurance business of an insurer, including the management of a separate division, department, or underwriting office, and acts as an agent for such insurer whether known as a managing general agent, manager, or other similar term, who, with or without the authority, either separately or together with affiliates, produces, directly or indirectly, and underwrites an amount of gross direct written premium equal to or more than five percent of the policyholder surplus as reported in the last annual statement of the insurer in any one quarter or year together with one or both of the following:

(I) Adjusts or pays claims in excess of an amount determined by the commissioner; or

(II) Negotiates reinsurance on behalf of the insurer.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), the following persons shall not be considered an MGA for the purposes of this part 10:

(I) An employee of the insurer;

(II) A United States manager of the United States branch of an alien insurer;

(III) An underwriting manager who, pursuant to contract, manages all the insurance operations of the insurer and who is under common control with the insurer subject to the provisions of part 8 of article 3 of this title and whose compensation is not based on the volume of premiums written;

(IV) The attorney-in-fact authorized by and acting for the subscribers of a reciprocal insurer or interinsurance exchange under powers of attorney.

(3) "Underwrite" means the authority to accept or reject risk on behalf of the insurer.