                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS (§ 38.2-1333)

A. All documents, materials, or other information obtained by or disclosed to
the Commission or any other person in the course of an examination or
investigation made pursuant to § 38.2-1332, and all information reported or
provided to the Commission pursuant to subdivisions A 12 and 13 of § 38.2-1324
and §§ 38.2-1329, 38.2-1330, 38.2-1330.1, and 38.2-1332.2 is declared to be
proprietary and to contain trade secrets and shall be confidential by law and
privileged, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to
discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the
Commission is authorized to use the documents, materials, or other information
in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the
Commission&#8217;s official duties. The Commission shall not otherwise make the
documents, materials, or other information public without the prior written
consent of the insurer to which they pertain. After an insurer and its
affiliates have been given notice and opportunity to be heard, the Commission
may publish all or any part of the documents, materials, or other information
referred to in this section in any manner it considers appropriate if it
determines that the interests of policyholders or the public will be served by
the publication.

   1. For the purposes of the information reported to the Commission pursuant to
   subsection M of &#xA7; 38.2-1329, the Commission shall maintain the
   confidentiality of the group capital calculation and group capital ratio
   produced within the calculation and any group capital information received
   from an insurance holding company system supervised by the Federal Reserve
   Board or U.S. group-wide supervisor.

   2. For the purposes of the information reported to the Commission pursuant to
   subsection N of &#xA7; 38.2-1329, the Commission shall maintain the
   confidentiality of the liquidity stress test results and supporting
   disclosures and any liquidity stress test information received from an
   insurance holding company system supervised by the Federal Reserve Board and
   non-U.S. group-wide supervisor.

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

C. In order to assist in the performance of the Commission&#8217;s duties, the
Commission:

   1. May share documents, materials, or other information, including the
   confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to
   subsection A, including proprietary and trade secret documents and materials,
   with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies; with the
   NAIC; with any third-party consultants designated by the Commission; and with
   state, federal, and international law-enforcement authorities, including
   members of any supervisory college described in &#xA7; 38.2-1332.1, 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;

   2. May, notwithstanding subdivision 1, only share confidential and privileged
   documents, materials, or information reported pursuant to subsection L of
   &#xA7; 38.2-1329 with insurance commissioners in any states that have statutes
   or regulations substantially similar to subsection A and that have agreed in
   writing not to disclose such information;

   3. May receive documents, materials, or information, including otherwise
   confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information, including
   proprietary and trade secret information from the NAIC 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 documents, materials, 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; and

   4. Shall enter into written agreements with the NAIC and any third-party
   consultant designated by the Commission governing sharing and use of
   information provided pursuant to this article consistent with this subsection
   that shall:
   				a. Specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and
   security of information shared with the NAIC or a third-party consultant
   designated by the Commission pursuant to this article, 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;
   				b. Specify that ownership of information shared with the NAIC or a
   third-party consultant designated by the Commission pursuant to this article
   remains with the Commission and that the NAIC&#8217;s or third party
   consultant&#8217;s use of the information is subject to the direction of the
   Commission;
   				c. Except for documents, material, or information reported pursuant to
   subsection N of &#xA7; 38.2-1329, prohibit the NAIC or third-party consultant
   designated by the Commission from storing the information shared pursuant to
   this article in a permanent database after the underlying analysis is
   completed;
   				d. Require prompt notice to be given to an insurer whose confidential
   information in the possession of the NAIC or a third-party consultant
   designated by the Commission pursuant to this article is subject to a request
   or subpoena to the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the
   Commission for disclosure or production;
   				e. Require the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the
   Commission to consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or
   administrative action in which the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries
   may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared
   with the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commission
   pursuant to this article; and
   				f. For documents, materials, and information reported pursuant to
   subsection N of &#xA7; 38.2-1329, in the case of an agreement involving a
   third-party consultant, provide for notification of the identity of the
   consultant to the applicable insurers.

D. The sharing of information by the Commission pursuant to this article shall
not constitute a delegation of regulatory authority or rulemaking, and the
Commission is solely responsible for the administration, execution, and
enforcement of the provisions of this article.

E. 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 Commission under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in
subsection C.

F. Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of
the NAIC or a third-party consultant designated by the Commission pursuant to
this article shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject
to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in
any private civil action.

G. Except as otherwise provided by the provisions of this article, the making,
publishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the public, or causing
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, 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 by an insurer, broker, or other
person engaged in any manner in the insurance business, shall be prohibited.
However, if any materially false statement with respect to the group capital
calculation, the resulting group capital ratio, an inappropriate comparison of
any amount to an insurer&#8217;s or insurance group&#8217;s group capital
calculation or resulting group capital ratio, the liquidity stress test result,
or supporting disclosures is published in any written publication, and the
insurer is able to demonstrate to the Commission with substantial proof the
falsity or the inappropriateness of such statement, 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 inappropriate statement.

HISTORY: 1973, c. 505, § 38.1-178.5; 1986, c. 562; 2001, c. 519; 2014, c. 309;
2019, c. 692; 2022, c. 113.