1. (a) Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking that are obtained by or disclosed to the Commissioner or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made under § 31-707, and all information reported under §§ 31-705 and 31-706, are recognized by the District as being proprietary and to contain trade secrets, and shall be confidential and privileged; shall not be subject to subchapter II of Chapter 5 of Title 2; shall not be subject to subpoena; and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in a private civil action; provided, that:

   1. (1) The Commissioner may use the documents, materials or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the Commissioner’s official duties.
   2. (2) The Commissioner may make the documents, materials, or other information public with the prior written consent of the insurer to which it pertains.
   3. (3) If the Commissioner, 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 of the documents, materials, or other information, the Commissioner may publish all or any part of the documents, materials, or other information in the manner that the Commissioner considers appropriate.

2. (a-1) Subject to the proviso in subsection (a) of this section, for purposes of the information reported and provided to the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking pursuant to § 31-705(k-2) and (k-3), the Commissioner shall maintain the confidentiality of:

   1. (1) The group capital calculation and group capital ratio produced within the calculation and any group capital information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board or any U.S. group-wide supervisor; and
   2. (2) The liquidity stress test results and supporting disclosures and any liquidity stress test information received from an insurance holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and non-U.S. group wide supervisors.
3. (b) The Commissioner or any person who received documents, materials, or other information while acting under the authority of the Commissioner or any person with whom such documents, materials, or other information are shared pursuant to this subchapter shall not be permitted or required to testify in a private civil action concerning confidential documents, materials, or other information subject to subsection (a) of this section.

4. (c) To assist in the performance of the Commissioner’s duties, the Commissioner:

   1. (1) May share documents, materials or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information described at subsection (a) of this section, and which shall include proprietary and trade secret documents and materials, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, the NAIC, any third-party consultants designated by the Commissioner, and state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, including members of any supervisory college described in § 31-707.01; provided, that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material, or other information, and verifies in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality.
   2. (1A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Commissioner may only share confidential and privileged documents, material, or information reported pursuant to § 31-705(k-1) or § 31-706 with commissioners of states having statutes or regulations substantially similar to the provisions set forth in subsection (a) of this section and who have agreed in writing not to disclose such information.
   3. (2) May receive documents, materials, or other information, including confidential and privileged documents, materials, or other information, including proprietary and trade secret information, from NAIC, including 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 other 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 other information; or

   4. (3) Shall enter into written agreements with the NAIC and any third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner governing the sharing and use of information provided pursuant to this subchapter and consistent with this subsection, which shall:

      1. (A) Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this subchapter, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the NAIC with other state, federal or international regulators. The agreement shall provide that the recipient agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials or other information and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain such confidentiality;
      2. (B) Specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant pursuant to this subchapter remains with the Commissioner and the NAIC's or a third-party consultant's use of the information is subject to the direction of the Commissioner;
      3. (C) Excluding documents, material, or information reported pursuant to § 31-705(k-3), prohibit the NAIC or third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner from storing information shared pursuant to this subchapter in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is completed;
      4. (D) Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer that the insurer's confidential information in the possession of the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this subchapter is subject to a request or subpoena to the NAIC or a third-party consultant for disclosure or production;
      5. (E) Require the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the NAIC or a third-party consultant may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant and its affiliates and subsidiaries pursuant to this subchapter; and
      6. (F) For reporting of documents, material, or information pursuant to § 31-705(k-3), in the case of an agreement involving a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner, provide for notification of the identity of the consultant to the applicable insurers.
5. (c-1) The sharing of information by the Mayor pursuant to this subchapter shall not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking. The Mayor shall be solely responsible for the administration, execution. and enforcement of the provisions of this subchapter.
6. (d) No waiver of an applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or other information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the Commissioner under this section or of sharing as authorized in subsection (c) of this section. Nothing in this section shall require an insurer to disclose documents, materials, or other information that is not otherwise required by law to be disclosed.
7. (d-1) Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the NAIC, or a third-party consultant designated by the Commissioner pursuant to this subchapter shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to subchapter II of Chapter 5 of Title 2 [§ 2-531 et seq.], shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible into evidence in any private civil action.
8. (d-2) Except as otherwise required under this subchapter, no insurer, broker, or other person engaged in any manner in the insurance business may make, publish, disseminate, circulate or place before the public, or cause directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over any radio or television station or any electronic means of communication available to the public, or in any other way as an advertisement, announcement, or statement containing a representation or statement, with regard to the group capital calculation, group capital ratio, the liquidity stress test results, or supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test of any insurer or any insurer group, or of any component derived in the calculation; provided, that if any materially false statement with respect to the group capital calculation, resulting group capital ratio, a false or misleading comparison of any amount to an insurer's or insurance group's group capital calculation or resulting group capital ratio, liquidity stress test result, supporting disclosures for the liquidity stress test, or a false or misleading comparison of any amount to an insurer's or insurance group's liquidity stress test result or supporting disclosures is published in any written publication and the insurer is able to demonstrate to the Commissioner with substantial proof the falsity of such statement or its false or misleading nature as the case may be, then the insurer may publish announcements in a written publication if the sole purpose of the announcement is to rebut the materially false or misleading statement.

History

Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-44, § 9, 40 DCR 6027

Oct. 21, 2000, D.C. Law 13-191, § 3, 47 DCR 7311

June 11, 2004, D.C. Law 15-166, § 4(e), 51 DCR 2817

Mar. 11, 2015, D.C. Law 20-235, § 2(h), 62 DCR 461

June 11, 2026, D.C. Law 26-135, § 2(d)

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 4(e) of Consolidation of Financial Services Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-381, February 27, 2004, 51 DCR 2653).

Effect of Amendments

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-235 substituted “Commissioner or any person with whom such documents, materials, or other information are shared pursuant to this chapter” for “Commissioner” in (b); in (c)(1), added “including members of any supervisory college as described in § 31-707.01,” substituted “recipient agrees in writing” for “recipient agrees” and added “and has verified in writing the legal authority to maintain confidentiality”; added (c)(1A); rewrote (c)(3); and added (c-1) and (d-1).

D.C. Law 15-166, in subsec. (a), substituted “Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking” for “Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation”.

D.C. Law 13-191 rewrote this section which formerly provided: “All information, documents, and copies obtained by or disclosed to the Mayor or any other person in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to § 35-3707 and all information reported pursuant to §§ 35-3705 and 35-3706 shall be given confidential treatment, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be made public by the Mayor, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 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 Mayor, 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 publication, in which event the Mayor may publish all or any part in such a manner as he or she deems appropriate.”

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 35-3708.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 31-704.