Upon taking possession of the property and business of any person in any proceeding under this article, the commissioner, exclusively and except as otherwise expressly provided by this article, either as conservator or liquidator:

(a) Shall have authority to collect all moneys due that person, and to do such other acts as are necessary or expedient to collect, conserve, or protect its assets, property, and business, and to carry on and conduct the business and affairs of that person or so much thereof as to him or her may seem appropriate.

(b) Shall collect all debts due and claims belonging to that person, and shall have the authority to sell, compound, compromise, or assign, for the purpose of collection upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner deems best, any bad or doubtful debts.

(c) Shall have authority to compound, compromise or in any other manner negotiate settlements of claims against that person upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner shall deem to be most advantageous to the estate of the person being administered or liquidated or otherwise dealt with under this article.

(d) Shall have authority without notice, to acquire, hypothecate, encumber, lease, improve, sell, transfer, abandon, or otherwise dispose of or deal with, any real or personal property of that person at its reasonable market value, or, in cases other than acquisition, sale, or transfer on the basis of reasonable market value, upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner may deem proper. However, no transaction involving real or personal property shall be made where the market value of the property involved exceeds the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) without first obtaining permission of the court, and then only in accordance with any terms that court may prescribe.

(e) Shall have authority to transfer to a trustee or trustees, under a voting trust agreement, the stock of an insurer heretofore or hereafter issued to the commissioner as conservator or as liquidator in connection with a rehabilitation or reinsurance agreement, or any other proceeding under this article. This voting trust agreement shall confer upon the trustee or trustees the right to vote or otherwise represent that stock, and shall not be irrevocable for a period of more than 21 years.

(f) May, for the purpose of executing and performing any of the powers and authority conferred upon the commissioner under this article, in the name of the person affected by the proceeding or in the commissioner’s own name, prosecute and defend any and all suits and other legal proceedings, and execute, acknowledge and deliver any and all deeds, assignments, releases and other instruments necessary and proper to effectuate any sale of any real and personal property or other transaction in connection with the administration, liquidation, or other disposition of the assets of the person affected by that proceeding; and any deed or other instrument executed pursuant to the authority hereby given shall be valid and effectual for all purposes as though it had been executed by the person affected by any proceeding under this article or by its officers pursuant to the direction of its governing board or authority. In cases where any real property sold by the commissioner under this article is located in a county other than the county wherein the proceeding is pending, the commissioner shall cause a certified copy of the order of his or her appointment, or order authorizing or ratifying the sale, to be filed in the office of the county recorder of the county in which that property is located.

(g) Shall have authority to invest and reinvest, in such manner as the commissioner may deem suitable for the best interests of the creditors of that person, such portions of the funds and assets of that person in his or her possession as do not exceed the amount of the reserves required by law to be maintained by that person as reserves for life insurance policies, annuity contracts, supplementary agreements incidental to life business, and reserves for noncancellable disability policies, and which funds and assets are not immediately distributable to creditors. However, no investment or reinvestment shall be made which exceeds the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) without first obtaining permission of the court, and then only in accordance with any terms that court may prescribe. That permission shall not be required for any investment or reinvestment of those funds or assets in funds administered by the Treasurer.

The enumeration, in this article, of the duties, powers and authority of the commissioner in proceedings under this article shall not be construed as a limitation upon the commissioner, nor shall it exclude in any manner his or her right to perform and to do such other acts not herein specifically enumerated, or otherwise provided for, which the commissioner may deem necessary or expedient for the accomplishment or in aid of the purpose of such proceedings.

(Amended by Stats. 1988, Ch. 356, Sec. 1.)