(a) No domestic insurer, domestic health care center or domestic fraternal benefit society may pledge, hypothecate or otherwise encumber its assets to secure the debt, guaranty or obligations of any other person without the prior written consent of the Insurance Commissioner. This prohibition shall not apply to obligations of the insurer under surety bonds or insurance contracts issued in the regular course of business.

(b) (1) No domestic insurer, domestic health care center or domestic fraternal benefit society may, without the prior written consent of the Insurance Commissioner, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise encumber its assets to secure its own debt, guaranty or obligations if the amount of the assets pledged, hypothecated or otherwise encumbered, when the pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance is made, together with the aggregate amount of assets pledged, hypothecated or encumbered to secure all such debts, guarantees and obligations, exceeds the lesser of five per cent of admitted assets or twenty-five per cent of surplus as regards policyholders as reported in its last financial statement filed with the commissioner pursuant to section 38a-53 or 38a-614.

(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as prohibiting a domestic insurer, domestic health care center or domestic fraternal benefit society from pledging, hypothecating or encumbering any assets in connection with: (A) Transactions in the ordinary course of business, including, but not limited to: (i) Complying with any statutory requirement, (ii) reinsurance transactions otherwise in compliance with applicable statutory requirements, or (iii) investments or investment practices otherwise in compliance with applicable statutory requirements, including, but not limited to, securities lending, repurchase transactions, reverse repurchase transactions, swap, futures and options transactions, and any other transactions which are not prohibited by the investment law and regulations of this state; (B) transactions subject to the provisions of sections 38a-129 to 38a-140, inclusive; or (C) any other transaction deemed excluded by the Insurance Commissioner. Assets pledged, hypothecated or encumbered pursuant to subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of this subdivision shall not be charged against the limits set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(3) In the case of a domestic life insurance company, the provisions of this subsection shall apply to a separate account only to the extent that reserves for guarantees with respect to (A) benefits guaranteed as to dollar amount and duration or (B) funds guaranteed as to principal amount or stated rate of interest are held in a separate account in accordance with subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 38a-433.

(P.A. 90-243, S. 167; P.A. 98-60; P.A. 05-29, S. 4; P.A. 10-5, S. 3; P.A. 16-213, S. 15.)

History: P.A. 98-60 designated existing language as Subsec. (a) and substituted “domestic” for “licensed” re insurers and “shall” for “does” re prohibition, and added new Subsec. (b) re assets of domestic companies; P.A. 05-29 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(2)(C); P.A. 10-5 amended Subsec. (b)(3) to change “subdivision (iii)” to “subdivision (3)” re reference to Sec. 38a-433(a), effective May 5, 2010; P.A. 16-213 added “domestic” re health care center and fraternal benefit society, effective July 1, 2016.