Sec. 823.011. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION. (a) This section applies only to information, including documents and copies of documents, that is:

(1) reported or otherwise provided under Subchapter B or C or Section 823.201(d) or (e) or Section 823.0147;

(2) disclosed to the commissioner under Section 823.010; or

(3) obtained by or disclosed to the commissioner or another person in the course of an examination or investigation under Subchapter H or Chapter 401.

(b) The information shall be confidential and privileged for all purposes. Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), the information may not be disclosed without the prior written consent of the insurer to which it pertains.

(c) The commissioner may publish all or any part of the information in the manner that the commissioner considers appropriate if the commissioner, after giving the insurer and its affected affiliates notice and an opportunity to be heard, determines that the interests of policyholders or the public will be served by the publication of the information.

(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), if the recipient of documents or other information described by Subsection (a) agrees in writing to maintain the confidential and privileged status of the documents or other information, and verifies in writing the legal authority to maintain the confidential and privileged status of the documents or information, the commissioner or another person may disclose the information to any of the following entities functioning in an official capacity:

(1) a commissioner of insurance or an insurance department of another state;

(2) an authorized law enforcement official;

(3) a district attorney of this state;

(4) the attorney general;

(5) a grand jury;

(6) members of a supervisory college described by Section 823.0145;

(7) the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries; or

(8) another state, federal, or international regulatory agency.

(d-1) The commissioner may receive documents or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents or information, from the entities listed in Subsection (d) and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document or information received by the commissioner with notice or an understanding that the document or information is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction of the entity that provides the document or information.

(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), the commissioner may share confidential and privileged information reported under Section 823.0595 only with the commissioner of insurance of a state that has a statute or rule substantially similar to Subsection (d) who agrees in writing not to disclose the information.

(f) Information described by Subsection (a), including information in the possession of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners under this section, is confidential and privileged for all purposes, including for purposes of:

(1) Chapter 552, Government Code;

(2) a response to a subpoena; or

(3) discovery or admissibility in evidence in a civil action.

(g) The commissioner shall enter into written agreements with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that comply with the requirements of Subsection (d) regarding the sharing and use of information provided under this chapter. An agreement entered into under this subsection must:

(1) specify procedures and protocols regarding the confidentiality and security of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries under this chapter, including procedures and protocols for sharing by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners with other state, federal, or international regulators;

(2) specify that ownership of information shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries under this chapter remains with the commissioner, and that use of the information by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is subject to the direction of the commissioner;

(3) require prompt notice to an insurer whose confidential information is in the possession of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners under this chapter that the information is subject to a request or subpoena to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for disclosure or production; and

(4) require the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries to give consent to intervention by an insurer in any judicial or administrative action in which the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries may be required to disclose confidential information about the insurer shared with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries under this chapter.

(h) This section may not be construed to prevent the commissioner from using information described by Subsection (a) in the furtherance of a legal or regulatory action relating to the administration of this code.

(i) The commissioner remains solely responsible for the administration, execution, and enforcement of this chapter, and the commissioner's sharing of information does not constitute a delegation of regulatory or rulemaking authority.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1419, Sec. 1, eff. June 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 922 (S.B. 1431), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1087 (H.B. 3460), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013.

Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 38 (H.B. 3220), Sec. 2, eff. May 19, 2017.