Current Texas Insurance Commissioner Cassie Brown announced this week that she will be retiring on February 2. Brown has led the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) for the past four years, and her tenure with TDI has spanned many more. Before serving as commissioner, Brown was the commissioner of TDI’s
Read More Texas Will Have a New Insurance CommissionerTexas Developments
December 2023 Privacy & Cybersecurity Newsletter: A Busy Year-End (States, EU, UK, Incident Response and Litigation)
Locke Lord’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Newsletter provides topical snapshots of recent developments in the fast-changing world of privacy, data protection and cyber risk management.
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Texas Legislature to ESG: Don’t Mess With Texas
By Moya McKenna on
Posted in Texas Developments, United States
The 88th Regular Session (2023) of the Texas Legislature voted to enact Senate Bill 833 (“SB 833”), which aims to prohibit insurers operating in Texas from using environmental, social, or governance (“ESG”) models, scores, factors, or standards to charge different rates to businesses or risks in the same class facing essentially the same hazards. Because of the divergent approach states have taken regarding ESG issues, SB 833 may present unique challenges for insurance companies operating across multiple jurisdictions. To navigate this complex landscape, insurance companies need to develop flexible strategies that can accommodate the contrasting regulatory expectations in the states coined “anti-ESG” versus the “pro-ESG” states. This scenario not only involves managing legal and compliance risks but also managing reputational risks.
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Texas Department of Insurance Adopts New Group Capital Calculation Rule
By Jon Gillum & Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Texas Developments, United States
The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) adopted a new group capital calculation filing requirement that is effective on November 7, 2022. The new rule, found in 28 Texas Administrative Code §7.215 (“Section 7.215”), is based on the National Association Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) model regulation that requires an insurer’s ultimate control person in an insurance holding company system to file a group capital calculation concurrently with the insurer’s annual registration (Form B).
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Texas Supreme Court Reverses Stop Loss Insurance Categorization Premium Tax Ruling
On June 17, 2022, the Texas Supreme Court released an opinion in Hegar v. Health Care Serv. Corp. (No. 21-0080) (Jun 17, 2022) regarding whether the Comptroller properly taxed an insurer based on premiums it received from sales of stop-loss insurance policies under Texas Insurance Code Chapters 222 and 257.
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New Texas Reinsurance Rules for Reciprocal Insurers Take Effect
By Jon Gillum & Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Texas Developments, United States
The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) adopted new administrative rules for reciprocal reinsurers that took effect on January 1, 2022. According to TDI, the goal of the new reinsurance regulations is to “ensure TDI retains its authority to regulate credit for reinsurance matters associated with covered agreements, align TDI’s rules with the current approach to regulate reserve financing arrangements for certain life insurance policies, and align TDI’s rules with updates to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) accreditation requirements.”…
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Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan Steps Down
By Jon Gillum & Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Texas Developments, United States
Texas Insurance Commissioner Sullivan has announced his resignation following a three-year tenure at the agency.
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Texas Adopts Amendments to Surplus Lines Stamping Office Plan of Operation with Enhanced Department of Insurance Oversight
By Christopher Martin on
Kent C. Sullivan, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) issued Order No. 2020-6384 on July 3, 2020, approving an amended Plan of Operation of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT).
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Texas Department of Insurance Mulls COVID-19 Data Call for Auto Insurers
By Jon Gillum & Troutman Pepper Locke on
A special data call for the top 10 auto insurance groups in Texas may be on the horizon. On June 26, 2020, the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) issued a letter to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) requesting a special data call due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on auto insurance-related risks.
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TDI Encourages Midterm Commercial Policy Audits in Response to COVID-19
On April 15, 2020, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) issued a bulletin encouraging insurers to conduct midterm premium audits of commercial policies where premiums may need to be adjusted as a result of reduced business operations due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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