Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 48 Part 1.djvu/1159

 73d CONGRESS. SESS. II. CH. 672. JU NE 19, 1934. States branch, the liabilities, including therein the premium and loss reserves required by law, and the amount of surplus, and shall corre- spond to the next preceding verif ied s tatem ent m ade by such com- pany to the Supe rinten dent. Any vi olation of this or the p receding section shall b e a misd e- meanor, and any person convicted of such violation shall, for the first offense, be liable to a fine of not more than $500, and for each subsequent offense shall be liable to a fine of not more than $1,000. SEC. 12. DEFAMATION OF COMPANIES.-It shall be unlawful for any company now or hereafter doing business in the District, or any officer, director, clerk, employee, general agent, agent, or solicitor thereof, broker or any o ther per son, to make, ver bally or otherwi se, publish, print, distribute, or circulate, or cause the same to be done, or in any way to aid, abet, or encourage the making, printing, publish- ing, distributing, or circulating of, any pamphlet, circular, article, literatu re, or s tatement of any kind whi ch is def amatory of any c om- pany now or hereafter doing business in the District, or which con- tains any false criticism or false statement calculated to injure such company in its reputation or business ; and any officer, director, clerk, employee, general agent, agent, or solicitor of any company, broker or any other person, violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 . SEC. 13. PENALTY FOR REFUSING TO APPEAR AND TESTIFY IN ExA3IINA- Tioxs .-That in the ex amin atio n of any com pany as prov ided for in this Act the Superintendent shall have power to issue subpenas in the name of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia to compel witnesses to appear and testify and/or to produce all books, records, papers, or documents before sa id Superintendent. That if any witness having been-personally summoned shall neglect or refuse to obey the subpena issued as herein provided, then and in that event th e Superi ntendent may rep ort that fact to the Supr eme Court of the District of Columbia or one of the justices thereof, and said court, or any justice thereof, hereby is empowered to compel obedience to said subpena to the same exten t as witnes ses m ay be compelled to obey the subpenas of that court. SEC. 14. COURT PROCEEDINGS.-The Superintendent may, through the corp oration counsel of the D istrict, invoke t he aid o f any co urt of competent jurisdiction to enforce any order made or action taken by him in p ursua nce of law. SEC. 15. FALSE STATEMENTS IN APPLICATION FOR INSURANCE .-The falsity of a statement in the application for any policy of insurance shall not bar the right to recovery thereunder unless such false state- ment was made with intent to deceive or unless it materially affected either the acceptance of the risk or the hazard assumed by the company. SEC. 16. GENERAL DEPOSIT.-Every co mpan y de siri ng to tr ansa ct business in the District shall, before being licensed, deposit a proved securities of not less than $100,000 market value with the Superin- tendent or the supervising official of any State, Territory, or insular possession of the United States authorized to accept such deposit, which sh all be h eld for the bene fit of a ll policy holders : Pr ovided , Th at the deposit of every domestic company heretofore organized under the provisions of the laws of th e Dis trict or other Act of C ongr ess may be l imit ed (1) for s tock com pani es, to an am ount equal to the capital stock outstanding at the date of approval of this Act ; (2) for nonstock companies, to such amount as in the Penal ty f or viola - tions. Defamation of co m- pani es. Penalty. 1133 Examinations. Appearance of wi t- ness es, etc ., et. Court proceedings. Enforcement of orders of Superintend- ent. Application for in- suranee. Effect of false state- ment in. General deposit. Amount; required be- fore being licensed . Proviso. Domestic companies, he retofore organized.