Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 95.djvu/976

 95 STAT. 950

PUBLIC LAW 97-45—SEPT. 25, 1981 licensed and authorized before January 1, 1985, under the laws of Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, except that any group so chartered or licensed and authorized under the laws of Bermuda or the Cayman Islands shall be considered to be a risk retention group only after it has certified to the insurance commissioner ofat least one State that it satisfies the capitalization requirements of such State; (D) which does not exclude any person from membership in the group solely to provide for members of such a group a competitive advantage over such a person; and (E) which is composed of members each of whose principal activity consists of the manufacture, design, importation, distribution, packaging, labeling, lease, or sale of a product or products; (5) "purchasing group" means any group of persons which has as one of its purposes the purchase of product liability or completed operations liability insurance on a group basis; and (6) "State" means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia. (b) The definition of "product liability" in paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of this section shall not be construed to affect either the tort law or the law governing the interpretation of insurance contracts of any State. RISK RETENTION GROUPS

State regulation, SEC. 3. (a) Except as provided in this section, a risk retention group 15^0 3902 ^s exempt from any State law, rule, regulation, or order to the extent that such law, rule, regulation, or order would— (1) make unlawful, or regulate, directly or indirectly, the operation of a risk retention group except that the jurisdiction in which it is chartered may regulate the formation and operation of such a group and any State may require such a group to— (A) comply with the unfair claim settlement practices law of the State; (B) pay, on a nondiscriminatory basis, applicable premium and other taxes which are levied on admitted insurers and surplus lines Insurers, brokers, or policyholders under the laws of the State; (C) participate, on a nondiscriminatory basis, in any mechanism established or authorized under the law of the State for the equitable apportionment among insurers of product liability or completed operations liabmly insurance losses and expenses incurred on policies written through such mechanism; (D) submit to the appropriate authority reports and other information required of licensed insurers under the laws of a State relating solely to product liability or completed operations liability insurance losses and expenses; (E) register with and designate the State insurance commissioner as its agent solely for the purpose of receiving service of legal documents or process, and, upon request, furnish such commissioner a copy of any fiii£mcial report submitted by the risk retention group to the commissioner of the chartering or licensing jurisdiction; (F) submit to an examination by the State insurance commissioner in any State in which the group is doing business to determine the group's financial condition, if—

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