1(1) Any company failing, without just cause, to file any registration statement or certificate of exemption required to be filed pursuant to commission rules relating to this part or to submit an ORSA summary report or a corporate governance annual disclosure required pursuant to s. 628.8015 shall, in addition to other penalties prescribed under the Florida Insurance Code, be subject to pay a penalty of $100 for each day’s delay, not to exceed a total of $10,000.

(2) Every director or officer of an insurance holding company system who knowingly violates or participates in, or who knowingly directs any of the officers or agents of the company to engage in transactions or make investments which have not been properly filed or approved or which violate commission rules relating to this part, shall pay, in their individual capacity, a civil forfeiture of not more than $5,000 per violation. In determining the amount of the civil forfeiture, the office shall take into account the appropriateness of the forfeiture with respect to the gravity of the violation, and the history of previous violations.

(3) Whenever it appears to the office that any insurer subject to this part or any director, officer, employee, or agent thereof has engaged in any transaction or entered into a contract which violates commission rules relating to this part, the office may order the insurer to cease and desist immediately any further activity under that transaction or contract. The office may also order the insurer to void any such transaction or contract and restore the status quo if this action is in the best interest of the policyholders, creditors, or public.

1(4) If the office determines that any person violated s. 628.461, s. 628.801, or s. 628.8015, the violation may serve as an independent basis for disapproving dividends or distributions and for placing the insurer under an order of supervision in accordance with part VI of chapter 624.

(5) Any officer, director, or employee of an insurance holding company system who willfully and knowingly subscribes to, or makes or causes to be made, any false statements, false reports, or false filings with the intent to deceive the office in the performance of its duties under this part is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

History.—s. 9, ch. 85-214; s. 1, ch. 86-286; ss. 187, 188, ch. 91-108; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 1311, ch. 2003-261; s. 12, ch. 2014-101; ss. 2, 3, ch. 2016-206.

1Note.—Section 3, ch. 2016-206, provides in pertinent part that “the amendments made by this act to s. 628.803, Florida Statutes, are repealed on October 2, 2021, unless, before that date, the Legislature saves from repeal through reenactment the amendments to s. 624.4212, Florida Statutes, made by SB 1416 or similar legislation.” Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1416 became ch. 2016-205. If s. 3, ch. 2016-206, takes effect, subsections (1) and (4) will read:

(1) Any company failing, without just cause, to file any registration statement or certificate of exemption required to be filed pursuant to commission rules relating to this part shall, in addition to other penalties prescribed under the Florida Insurance Code, be subject to pay a penalty of $100 for each day’s delay, not to exceed a total of $10,000.

* * * * *

(4) If the office determines that any person violated s. 628.461 or s. 628.801, the violation may serve as an independent basis for disapproving dividends or distributions and for placing the insurer under an order of supervision in accordance with part VI of chapter 624.