As used in this chapter:

(a) “Actuary” means a person who is a member in good standing of the American Academy of Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, or the Society of Actuaries, and is qualified to sign statements of actuarial opinion on loss reserves.

(b) “Controlling person” means any person, firm, association, or corporation who directly or indirectly has the power to direct or cause to be directed, the management, control, or activities of a reinsurance intermediary.

(c) “Insurer” means any person, firm, association, or corporation admitted by the commissioner as an insurer in this state.

(d) “Licensed producer” means a licensed insurance agent, broker, or reinsurance intermediary.

(e) “Qualified United States financial institution” means an institution that meets all of the following criteria:

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

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

(3) Has been determined by either the commissioner or the Securities Valuation Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, to meet 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.

(f) “Reinsurance intermediary” means a reinsurance intermediary-broker or a reinsurance intermediary-manager.

(g) “Reinsurance intermediary-broker” means any person, other than an officer or employee of the ceding insurer, firm, association, or corporation that solicits, negotiates, or places reinsurance cessions or retrocessions on behalf of a ceding insurer without the authority or power to bind reinsurance on behalf of that insurer.

(h) “Reinsurance intermediary-manager” means any person, firm, association, or corporation that has authority to bind, or manages all or part of the assumed reinsurance business of, a reinsurer (including the management of a separate division, department, or underwriting office) and acts as an agent for the reinsurer whether known as a reinsurance intermediary-manager, manager, or other similar term. However, “reinsurance intermediary-manager” does not include any of the following:

(1) An employee of the reinsurer.

(2) A domestic manager of a United States branch of an alien reinsurer.

(3) An underwriting manager that, pursuant to contract, manages all or any portion of the reinsurance operations of the reinsurer, that is under common control with the reinsurer, that is subject to Article 4.7 (commencing with Section 1215) of Chapter 2, and the compensation of which is not based on the volume of premiums written.

(4) The manager of a group, association, pool, or organization of insurers which engage in joint underwriting or joint reinsurance and that are subject to examination by the insurance regulatory agency or official of the state in which the manager’s principal business office is located.

(i) “Reinsurer” means any person, firm, association, or corporation admitted in this state as an insurer with the authority to assume reinsurance.

(j) “Violation” means the failure of a reinsurance intermediary, or an insurer or reinsurer for whom the reinsurance intermediary was acting, to comply with any provision of this chapter.

(Added by Stats. 1991, Ch. 1009, Sec. 1.)