521A.7 Confidential treatment.

1. All information, documents, and copies thereof obtained by or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to section 521A.6 or 521A.6A, and all information reported or provided to the commissioner pursuant to sections 521A.4, 521A.5, 521A.6A, and 521A.6B, shall be given confidential treatment, shall not be subject to subpoena, shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in a private civil action, and shall not be made public by the commissioner or any other person, except to insurance departments of other states, without the prior written consent of the insurer to which it pertains unless the commissioner, after giving the insurer and its affiliates who would be affected thereby, notice and opportunity to be heard, determines that the interests of policyholders, shareholders, or the public will be served by the publication thereof, in which event the commissioner may publish all or any part thereof in such manner as the commissioner may deem appropriate. However, the commissioner is authorized to use the information, documents, or copies obtained by, disclosed to, or reported or provided to the commissioner as described in this subsection, in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner’s official duties.

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

3. In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner’s duties, the commissioner:

a. May share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsection 1, 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 521A.6A, 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 paragraph “a”, the commissioner may only share confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information filed pursuant to section 521A.4, subsection 12, 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.

d. Shall enter into written agreements with the national association of insurance commissioners governing sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this chapter consistent with this subsection that shall do all of the following:

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

(2) 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 commissioner and the association’s use of the information is subject to the direction of the commissioner.

(3) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential information in the possession of the national association of insurance commissioners pursuant to this chapter is subject to a request or subpoena to the association for disclosure or production.

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

4. The sharing of information by the commissioner pursuant to this chapter shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the commissioner 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 commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection 3.

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 by law and privileged, shall not be subject to chapter 22, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.

[C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §521A.7]

93 Acts, ch 88, §31; 2014 Acts, ch 1018, §20; 2016 Acts, ch 1122, §11

Referred to in §521A.6A, 521A.6B