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2012 Statute



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40-221a.Reinsurance of risks of and by Kansas companies. (a) Any insurance company organized under the laws of this state may (1) with the consent of the commissioner of insurance, cede all of its risks to any other solvent insurance company authorized to transact business in this state or accept all of the risks of any other company, (2) accept all or any part of an individual risk or all or any part of a particular class of risks which it is authorized to insure, and (3) cede all or any part of an individual risk or all or any part of a particular class of risks to another solvent insurer or insurers having the power to accept such reinsurance.

(b) Any insurance company organized under the laws of this state may take credit as an asset or as a deduction from loss and unearned premium reserves on such ceded risks to the extent reinsured by an insurer or insurers authorized to transact business in this state, but such credit on ceded risks reinsured by any insurer which is not authorized to transact business in this state may be taken in an amount not exceeding:

(1) The amount of deposits by, and funds withheld from, the assuming insurer pursuant to express provision therefor in the reinsurance contract, as security for the payment of the obligations thereunder, if such deposits or funds are held subject to withdrawal by, and under the control of, the ceding insurer or are placed in trust for such purposes in a qualified United States financial institution, if withdrawals from such trust cannot be made without the consent of the ceding company;

(2) the amount of a clean and irrevocable letter of credit issued by a qualified United States financial institution if such letter of credit is initially issued for a term of at least one year and by its terms is automatically renewed at each expiration date for at least an additional one-year term unless at least 30 days prior written notice of intention not to renew is given to the ceding company by the issuing qualified United States financial institution or the assuming company and provided that such letter of credit is issued under arrangements satisfactory to the commissioner of insurance as constituting security to the ceding insurer substantially equal to that of a deposit under paragraph (1) of this subsection; or

(3) the amount of loss and unearned premium reserves on such ceded risks to an assuming insurer which maintains a trust fund in a qualified United States financial institution, as defined in (b)(3)(D), for the payment of the valid claims of its United States ceding insurers, their assigns and successors in interest. The assuming insurer shall report annually to the commissioner information substantially the same as that required to be reported on the national association of insurance commissioners annual statement form by licensed insurers to enable the commissioner to determine the sufficiency of the trust fund. In the case of a single assuming insurer, the trust shall consist of a trusteed account representing the assuming insurer's liability attributable to business written in the United States and, in addition, the assuming insurer shall maintain a trusteed surplus of not less than $20,000,000. In the case of a group including incorporated and individual unincorporated underwriters, the trust shall consist of a trusteed account representing the group's liabilities attributable to business written in the United States and, in addition, the group shall maintain a trusteed surplus of which $100,000,000 shall be held jointly for the benefit of United States ceding insurers of any member of the group; the incorporated members of the group shall not be engaged in any business other than underwriting as a member of the group and shall be subject to the same level of solvency regulation and control by the group's domiciliary regulator as are the unincorporated members; and the group shall make available to the commissioner an annual certification of the solvency of each underwriter by the group's domiciliary regulator and its independent public accountants.

(A) Such trust must be in a form approved by the commissioner of insurance. The trust instrument shall provide that contested claims shall be valid and enforceable upon the final order of any court of competent jurisdiction in the United States. The trust shall vest legal title to its assets in the trustees of the trust for its United States ceding insurers, their assigns and successors in interest. The trust and the assuming group or insurer shall be subject to examination as determined by the commissioner. The trust, described herein, must remain in effect for as long as the assuming group or insurer shall have outstanding obligations due under the reinsurance agreements subject to the trust.

(B) No later than February 28 of each year the trustees of the trust shall report to the commissioner in writing setting forth the balance of the trust and listing the trust's investments at the preceding year end and shall certify the date of termination of the trust, if so planned, or certify that the trust shall not expire prior to the next following December 31.

(C) The credit authorized under subsection (b)(3) shall not be allowed unless the assuming group or insurer agrees in the reinsurance agreements:

(i) That in the event of the failure of the assuming group or insurer to perform its obligations under the terms of the reinsurance agreement, the assuming group or insurer, at the request of the ceding insurer, shall submit to the jurisdiction of any court of competent jurisdiction in any state of the United States, will comply with all requirements necessary to give such court jurisdiction, and will abide by the final decision of such court or of any appellate court in the event of an appeal; and

(ii) to designate the commissioner or a designated attorney as its true and lawful attorney upon whom may be served any lawful process in any action, suit or proceeding instituted by or on behalf of the ceding company.

(iii) This provision is not intended to conflict with or override the obligation of the parties to a reinsurance agreement to arbitrate their disputes, if such an obligation to do so is created in the agreement.

(D) (i) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (b), a "qualified United States financial institution" means, for purposes of those provisions of this law specifying those institutions that are eligible to act as a fiduciary of a trust, an institution that:

(aa) Is organized, or (in the case of a U.S. branch or agency office of a foreign banking organization) licensed, under the laws of the United States or any state thereof and has been granted authority to operate with fiduciary powers; and

(bb) is regulated, supervised and examined by federal or state authorities having regulatory authority over banks and trust companies.

(ii) For the purposes of paragraph (2) of subsection (b), "qualified United States financial institution" means, for the purpose of those provisions of this law specifying those institutions that are eligible to issue a letter of credit, an institution that:

(aa) Is organized or (in the case of a United States office of a foreign banking organization) licensed, under the laws of the United States or any state thereof;

(bb) is regulated, supervised and examined by United States federal or state authorities having regulatory authority over banks and trust companies; and

(cc) has been determined by the insurance commissioner to meet such standards of financial condition and standing as are considered necessary and appropriate to regulate the quality of financial institutions whose letters of credit will be acceptable to the commissioner.

In making determinations under this clause, the commissioner may consult with the securities valuation office of the national association of insurance commissioners.

(c) No credit shall be allowed, as an admitted asset or deduction from liability, to any ceding insurer organized under the laws of this state for reinsurance, unless the reinsurance contract provides, in substance, that in the event of the insolvency of the ceding insurer, the reinsurance shall be payable under a contract reinsured by the assuming insurer on the basis of the liability of the ceding company under the contract or contracts reinsured, as approved by the liquidation court, without diminution because of the insolvency of the ceding company. Any reinsurance agreement entered into with a domestic insurer which may be canceled on less than 90 days' notice, and which cancellation would constitute a material cancellation as defined by K.S.A. 40-2,156a, and amendments thereto, must provide in the reinsurance agreement, in substance, for a run-off of the reinsurance in force at the date of cancellation, unless the agreement is canceled for nonpayment of premium or fraud in the inducement. Reinsurance payments shall be made directly to the ceding insurer or to its domiciliary liquidator except: (1) Where the reinsurance contract or policy reinsured specifically provides another payee of such reinsurance in the event of the insolvency of the ceding insurer; or (2) where the assuming insurer, with the consent of the direct insured, has assumed such policy obligations of the ceding insurer as direct obligations of the assuming insurer to the payees under such policies and in substitution for the obligations of the ceding insurer to such payees.

(d) The reinsurance agreement may provide that the domiciliary liquidator of an insolvent ceding insurer shall give written notice to the assuming insurer of the pendency of a claim against such ceding insurer on the contract reinsured within a reasonable time after such claim is filed in the liquidation proceeding. During the pendency of such claim, any assuming insurer may investigate such claim and interpose, at its own expense, in the proceeding where such claim is to be adjudicated any defenses which it deems available to the ceding insurer, or its liquidator. Such expense may be filed as a claim against the insolvent ceding insurer to the extent of a proportionate share of the benefit which may accrue to the ceding insurer solely as a result of the defense undertaken by the assuming insurer. Where two or more assuming insurers are involved in the same claim and a majority in interest elect to interpose a defense to such claim, the expense shall be apportioned in accordance with the terms of the reinsurance agreement as though such expense had been incurred by the ceding insurer.

History: L. 1965, ch. 296, § 2; L. 1967, ch. 249, § 1; L. 1970, ch. 175, § 1; L. 1974, ch. 185, § 1; L. 1985, ch. 157, § 1; L. 1995, ch. 155, § 1; L. 1996, ch. 78, § 1; L. 1998, ch. 174, § 29; L. 1999, ch. 66, § 1; L. 2002, ch. 20, § 1; July 1.



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