Sec. 8. (a) A domestic insurer that is required by this chapter to file annual audited financial reports shall, not more than sixty (60) days after becoming subject to the requirement, register in writing with the commissioner the name and address of the independent auditor retained by the insurer to conduct the annual audits required by this chapter. The domestic insurer shall continuously ensure that the information provided to the commissioner under this section is accurate, and shall inform the commissioner in writing of any change in the identity or address of its independent auditor.

(b) A domestic insurer shall obtain a letter from its independent auditor that:

(1) states that the independent auditor is aware of the provisions of IC 27 and the administrative rules of the department of insurance that relate to auditing, accounting, and financial matters; and

(2) affirms that the independent auditor will express its opinion on the financial statements of the domestic insurer in the terms of their conformity to the statutory accounting practices prescribed or otherwise permitted by the department, specifying such exceptions as the independent auditor may believe appropriate.

The domestic insurer shall file a copy of this letter with the commissioner.

(c) If an independent auditor that audited the most recent financial report filed by the insurer with the commissioner under this chapter subsequently ceases to be the independent auditor for the insurer, the insurer shall:

(1) not more than five (5) business days after the cessation of the independent auditor's services, notify the commissioner in writing of the identity and address of the new independent auditor;

(2) not more than ten (10) business days after the notification given in subdivision (1), furnish the commissioner with a separate letter that states whether in the twenty-four (24) months preceding the engagement of the new independent auditor there were any disagreements between the insurer and its former independent auditor on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the former independent auditor, would have caused the former independent auditor to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in the former independent auditor's statement of its opinion on the insurer's financial report, and, if there was such a disagreement, provides a description of the disagreement. Disagreements required to be reported under this subdivision include those at the decision making level that were resolved:

(A) to the former accountant's satisfaction; and

(B) not to the former accountant's satisfaction; and

(3) comply with subsection (d).

For the purposes of this subsection, "decision making level" refers to the personnel of the insurer who are responsible for the presentation of the insurer's financial statements and the personnel of the independent auditor who are responsible for rendering the opinion of the auditor on the insurer's financial report.

(d) A domestic insurer subject to the provisions of subsection (c) shall:

(1) provide its former independent auditor with a copy of the letter furnished to the commissioner under subsection (c)(2); and

(2) request in writing its former independent auditor to furnish a letter addressed to the insurer stating whether the former independent auditor agrees with the statements contained in the letter furnished to the commissioner under subsection (c)(2) and, if not, stating the reasons for the former independent auditor's disagreement.

The domestic insurer shall furnish the commissioner with a copy of any responsive letter it receives from its former independent auditor within five (5) business days after the insurer receives the letter.

As added by P.L.244-1989, SEC.2. Amended by P.L.251-1995, SEC.8.