The commissioner may deny an application for any license issued pursuant to this chapter if:

(a) The applicant is not properly qualified to perform the duties of a person holding the license applied for;

(b) The granting of the license will be against public interest;

(c) The applicant does not intend actively and in good faith to carry on as a business with the general public the transactions which would be permitted by the issuance of the license applied for;

(d) The applicant is not of good business reputation;

(e) The applicant is lacking in integrity;

(f) The applicant has been refused a professional, occupational, or vocational license or had such a license suspended or revoked by any licensing authority for reasons that should preclude the granting of the license applied for;

(g) The applicant seeks the license for the purpose of avoiding or preventing the operation or enforcement of the insurance laws of this state;

(h) The applicant has knowingly or willfully made a misstatement in an application to the commissioner for a license, or in a document filed in support of such an application, or has made a false statement in testimony given under oath before the commissioner or any other person acting in his or her stead;

(i) The applicant has previously engaged in a fraudulent practice or act or has conducted any business in a dishonest manner;

(j) The applicant has shown incompetency or untrustworthiness in the conduct of any business, or has by commission of a wrongful act or practice in the course of any business exposed the public or those dealing with him or her to the danger of loss;

(k) The applicant has knowingly misrepresented the terms or effect of an insurance policy or contract;

(l) The applicant has failed to perform a duty expressly enjoined upon him or her by a provision of this code or has committed an act expressly forbidden by such a provision;

(m) The applicant has been convicted of:

(1) A felony;

(2) A misdemeanor denounced by this code or other laws regulating insurance; or

(3) A public offense having as one of its necessary elements a fraudulent act or an act of dishonesty in acceptance, custody, or payment of money or property;

(n) The applicant has aided or abetted any person in an act or omission which would constitute grounds for the suspension, revocation, or refusal of a license or certificate issued under this code to the person aided or abetted;

(o) The applicant has permitted any person in his or her employ to violate any provision of this code; or

(p) The applicant has violated any provision of law relating to conduct of business which could lawfully be done only under authority conferred by such license.

(q) The applicant has submitted to the commissioner a false or fraudulent certificate pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1749.5.

A judgment, plea, or verdict of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere is deemed to be a conviction within the meaning of this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 231, Sec. 9. (AB 2045) Effective January 1, 2019.)