17B:23-2 - Prerequisites to admission
17B:23-2. Prerequisites to admission
No foreign or alien insurer shall be admitted until it:
a. Files with the commissioner a certified copy of its charter or certificate of authority, and a statement of its financial condition and business, in the form and detail the commissioner requires, signed and sworn to by its president and secretary or other proper officer;
b. Satisfies the commissioner that it is fully and legally organized under the laws of its State or country to do the business it proposes to transact; that its condition or methods of operation are not such as would render its operation hazardous to the public or its policyholders in this State; and that it meets the financial requirements specified in section 17B:23-1;
c. Constitutes, by a duly executed instrument filed in the department, the commissioner and his successor in office its true and lawful attorney, upon whom all original process in any action or legal proceeding against it may be served, and therein agrees that any original process against it which may be served upon the commissioner shall be of the same force and validity as if served on the company, and that the authority thereof shall continue in force irrevocable so long as any liability of the company remains outstanding in this State. The insurer shall file a designation of the person to whom process against it served upon the commissioner is to be forwarded. The insurer may change such designation by a new filing;
d. Obtains from the commissioner a certificate that it has complied with all the requirements of this code applicable to it and is authorized to transact business in this State. This certificate shall expire on May 1 of the following year, and shall be renewed each year before May 1; provided, that the commissioner may refuse to issue or renew any such certificate of authority if, in his judgment, such refusal will best protect the interests of the people of this State or if the company fails to comply substantially with any requirement or limitation of this code applicable to it or any rule or regulation promulgated by the commissioner thereunder which in the judgment of the commissioner is reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the people of this State, but the commissioner may not refuse to renew any such certificate except after notice and hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (P.L.1968, c. 410) and any rules adopted thereunder and provided, that all such certificates outstanding and in force at the date of the passage of this code shall continue in full force and effect until May 1 next following the approval of this code, unless sooner revoked by the commissioner; and provided, further, that no such certificate shall be issued by the commissioner if, in the judgment of the commissioner, the name of such company shall so closely resemble the name of any existing company authorized to transact business in this State as to be likely to mislead the public.
L.1971, c. 144, s. 17B:23-2.