sixty per cent. of the amount of premiums written in its assets of life In valuing the assets which compose the legal reserve Valuation of of a life insurance company the real estate, the bonds and companies. stocks, shall be taken at such a value that the average annual income thereof shall be not less than four per cent. of the valuation; and if any asset or investment is conditioned upon a rate of interest of less than four per cent. annually, such asset or investment shall be rated at its value, considering the actual income and time it has to run, as the equivalent of a four per cent. investment; loans and credits shall not be allowed for more than their face value, nor shall any asset or investment be appraised for more than its market value. admissible. He shall allow to the credit of an insurance company in What assets are the account of its financial condition only such assets as are immediately available for the payment of losses in Massachusetts, but may credit any deposits or funds of the company set apart as security for a particular liability in set-off to the amount charged on account of such liability. stockholders' He shall not allow stockholders' obligations of any de- Not to allow scription as part of the assets or capital of any stock obligations insurance company, unless the same are secured by competent collateral. unless secured. proceedings of increase or SECTION 12. He shall, upon application, examine the To examine proceedings of domestic companies to increase or reduce domestic comtheir capital stock, and when found conformable to law panies to shall indorse certificates thereof, and shall issue certificates reduce capital, of authority to such companies to transact business upon such increased or reduced capital. ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF RECEIVERS. etc. accounts of SECTION 13. He or his deputy shall annually, and To audit oftener if there seems occasion, examine the accounts and receivers of transactions of all receivers of insolvent insurance com- panies, etc. insolvent com. May examine receivers, etc. To certify misconduct of receiver, etc. To act as attorney for foreign com. panies for process, etc. panies; and shall also carefully examine all accounts of such receivers referred to him under the provisions of section ninety-five, and make report thereof to the court. For the above purposes he or his deputy shall have free access to the official books and papers of such receivers relative to their transactions, and may examine such receivers under oath as to all matters connected therewith. Whenever in his opinion any receiver has violated his duty in office, or further proceedings by receivers to collect an assessment will not offer substantial relief to creditors, the commissioner shall certify the facts to the court having jurisdiction of the proceedings. SUITS AGAINST FOREIGN COMPANIES. SECTION 14. When legal process is served upon him as attorney for a foreign company under the provisions service of legal of the third clause of section seventy-eight he shall forthwith notify the company of such service by letter prepaid and directed to its secretary, or in the case of a company of a foreign country to its resident manager, if any, in the United States; and shall within two days after such service forward in the same manner a copy of the process served on him to such secretary or manager, or to such other person as may have been previously designated by the company by written notice filed in the office of the commissioner. As a condition of valid and effectual service, and of the duty of the commissioner in the premises, the plaintiff in each such process shall pay to the commissioner at the time of service thereof the sum of two dollars, which the said plaintiff shall recover as taxable costs if he prevails in his suit. The commissioner shall keep a record of all such processes, which shall show the day and hour of service. To collect and pay into treasury and fees. FEES AND CHARGES. SECTION 15. He shall collect and pay into the treasury certain charges charges and fees as follows: for valuation of life policies, two and one half mills for each thousand dollars of insurance; for each examination of a domestic company's qualification to transact business, thirty dollars; of each foreign company for filing copy of charter or deed of settlement, thirty dollars, and for filing statement with application for admission and for each annual statement, twenty dollars; for each license to procure fire insurance in unauthorized foreign companies, twenty dollars annually; for each certificate to an insurance broker, ten dollars; for each certificate or renewal thereof to an insurance agent, two dollars; for each certificate of the valuation of the policies of any life insurance company and for each certificate of the examination, condition or qualification of an insurance company, two dollars; for each service of lawful process upon him as attorney, two dollars; for each copy of any paper on file in his office, twelve cents a page and one dollar for certifying the same; and all other fees and charges due and payable into the treasury for any official act or service of the commissioner. BLANKS FOR STATEMENTS AND RETURNS. blanks for returns of fires. SECTION 16. He shall in December of each year fur- To furnish nish to each of the insurance companies authorized to do annual statebusiness in the Commonwealth, two or more blanks in ments and form adapted for their annual statements; and, similarly, shall prepare and forward to the mayor and aldermen and selectmen of the several towns and cities of the Commonwealth suitable blanks for returns of fires. RECORD AND ANNUAL REPORT. SECTION 17. He shall keep and preserve in a perma- To keep record nent form a record of his proceedings, including a concise of proceedings. statement of the result of official examinations of insurance companies. annual report to He shall annually, and as early as consistent with full To make an and accurate preparation, make a report to the general legislature. court of his official transactions, and shall include in such report a statement of the receipts and expenditures of his department for the preceding year; a compilation of the statistics of casualty fires in the Commonwealth, from returns made pursuant to law; a report of the condition of the receiverships of insolvent companies; an exhibit of the financial condition and business transactions of the several insurance companies as disclosed by official examinations of the same or by their annual statements, abstracts of which statements, together with his valuation of life policies, shall appear therein; and such other information and comments in relation to insurance and the public interest therein, as he deems fit to communicate. To do business and issue poli. name. PROVISIONS COMMON TO ALL COMPANIES. SECTION 18. Every insurance company, foreign or docies in corporate mestic, shall conduct its business in the Commonwealth in its own proper and corporate name, and the policies and contracts of insurance issued by it shall be headed or entitled only by its proper or corporate name. Liabilities to be published with assets, etc. To make returns for assessment of taxes. To make sworn report of When any such company publishes its assets it shall in the same connection and with equal conspicuousness publish its liabilities computed on the basis allowed for its annual statements, and any publication purporting to show its capital shall exhibit only the amount of such capital as has been actually paid in cash. Such publications shall be held to include all policies, renewals, signs, circulars, cards or other means by which public announcements are made. SECTION 19. Every such company shall be liable to taxation by any general law taxing insurance companies, and it shall by its proper officers make, to the tax commissioner or other officer of the Commonwealth, such returns and statements of its business and affairs as the law may require for the purpose of assessment of such taxes, and thereupon its officers and agents may be examined under oath by the officer to whom such returns are to be made. SECTION 20. If any company authorized to transact reinsurance, etc. the business of insurance in this Commonwealth shall directly or indirectly contract for or effect any reinsurance of any risk or part thereof taken by it, it shall make a sworn report thereof to the insurance commissioner at the time of filing its annual statement, or at such other time as he may request; and such reinsurance, except so far as it is in companies authorized to do business in this Commonwealth, shall not reduce the reserve required of it or the taxes to be paid by it, or increase the amount it is authorized to have at risk in any town or fire insurance Limit of single district. No fire insurance company shall insure in a single hazard a larger sum than one tenth of its net assets: provided, however, that a mutual boiler insurance company of this Commonwealth may insure in a single risk an amount not exceeding one fourth of its net assets. hazard. Misrepresenta. tion by assured not to defeat policy unless, etc. SECTION 21. No oral or written misrepresentation made in the negotiation of a contract or policy of insurance, by the assured or in his behalf, shall be deemed material or defeat or avoid the policy, or prevent its attaching, unless such misrepresentation is made with actual intent to deceive, or unless the matter misrepresented increased the risk of loss. PROVISIONS SPECIAL TO MASSACHUSETTS COMPANIES. SECTION 22. The general provisions of law relative to the powers, duties and liabilities of corporations shall apply to all incorporated domestic insurance companies, so far as such provisions are pertinent and not in conflict with other provisions of law relative to such companies or with their charters. All insurance companies of this Commonwealth may be governed by chapter two hundred and fourteen of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven and acts amendatory thereof, anything in their special charters to the contrary notwithstanding, providing notice of the acceptance of said act is filed with the insurance commissioner. bodies corporate of SECTION 23. Domestic insurance companies incorpo- To continue rated by special acts, whose charters are subject to a limi- after expiration tation of time, shall after such limitation expires continue charter limita to be bodies corporate, subject to all general laws applicable to such companies. tion. tificate before SECTION 24. No domestic insurance company shall To obtain cerissue policies until upon examination by the commissioner issuing policies. or his deputy it is found to have complied with the laws of the Commonwealth, nor until it has obtained from the commissioner a certificate setting forth that fact and authorizing it to issue policies. For such examination it shall pay into the treasury of the Commonwealth thirty dollars. laws, divide SECTION 25. Any such company may adopt by-laws May adopt by for the conduct of its business not repugnant to law or to directors into its charter, and therein may provide for the division of its classes, etc. board of directors into two, three or four classes, and the election thereof at its annual meetings in such manner as that the members of one class only shall retire and their successors be chosen each year. Vacancies in any such class may be filled by election by the board for the unexpired term. treasurer to give The secretary and treasurer shall severally give bond Secretary and with sureties in such sum as the directors may require for bond. the faithful performance of their respective duties. |