SB 763

This bill eliminates the medical malpractice insurance report, adds certain

biographical information to the information that the commissioner of insurance may

refuse to disclose to others, adds provisions that apply to the privilege relating to

confidential information provided to the commissioner, changes the membership of

the rating committee of the Wisconsin worker's compensation rating bureau, creates

a corporate governance annual disclosure requirement, and adds corporate

deficiencies to the list of grounds for which an insurer may be rehabilitated.

Corporate governance annual disclosure

The bill requires an insurer or an insurance holding company system of which

an insurer is a member to annually submit to the commissioner a corporate

governance annual disclosure containing information specified in the bill. If the

insurer is a member of an insurance holding company system the system shall

submit the disclosure to the insurance commissioner of the lead state, and the state

shall provide a copy to Wisconsin's commissioner upon the commissioner's request.

The bill allows the commissioner to request additional information from the insurer

or insurance holding company system to understand the corporate governance

policies and implementation of those policies. The bill specifies how, when, and with

whom documents, materials, and other information disclosed to the commissioner

in conjunction with a corporate governance annual disclosure may be released,

shared, or disclosed, including providing that the documents, materials, and other

information is considered proprietary and contains trade secrets and is confidential

and privileged. The commissioner may petition a court for an order directing

rehabilitation of an insurer on one of the grounds specified in current law, and the

bill adds to those grounds corporate governance deficiencies in which continued

operation of the insurer may be hazardous to policyholders, creditors, or the public.

Nondisclosure of information

Currently the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance may refuse to disclose

and may prevent others from disclosing certain information obtained by the

commissioner including testimony, reports, records, and information obtained in the

court of an inquiry made by the commissioner or an examination conducted by the

commissioner. Under the bill, OCI may also refuse to disclose biographical

information of directors or principal officers of a corporation reported, as required by

current law, by a domestic stock or mutual insurance corporation.

Current law specifies the nature of the privilege surrounding the confidential

information obtained by the commissioner such as specifying that the privilege may

not be constructively waived and may be waived only by affirmative written and

specific consent of the commissioner. Under the bill, privileged information is not

subject to inspection or copying under open records law and is not subject to subpoena

or discovery or admissible as evidence in a private civil action. The commissioner

may not be compelled to testify concerning privileged information in a private civil