TITLE 33 INSURANCE

Section 11. Investments, 33-11-1 through 33-11-89.

ARTICLE 2 INVESTMENTS OF LIFE, ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS, PROPERTY, AND CASUALTY INSURERS

33-11-57. Requirements regarding admitted assets at time of acquisition; nonadmitted assets; relation of investment limitation; qualification of investments; documentation; authority of Commissioner; insurance futures.

1. Investments not conforming to this article shall not be admitted assets.
2. Subject to subsection (c) of this Code section, an insurer shall not acquire or hold an investment as an admitted asset unless at the time of acquisition it is:
   1. Eligible for the payment or accrual of interest or discount (whether in cash or other forms of income or securities), eligible to receive dividends or other distributions, or is otherwise income producing;
   2. Acquired under Code Section 33-11-55, 33-11-56, or 33-11-63 as a result of securities lending, repurchase, reverse repurchase, dollar roll transactions or, if a life insurer, the administration of policy loans; or
   3. Under the authority of provisions of this chapter other than this article.
3. An insurer may acquire or hold as admitted assets investments that do not otherwise qualify as provided in this article if the insurer has not acquired them for the purpose of circumventing any limitations contained in this article, the insurer complies with the provisions of Code Section 33-11-60 and values such investments in accordance with Code Section 33-10-14, and if the insurer acquires the investments in the following circumstances:
   1. As payment on account of existing indebtedness or in connection with the refinancing, restructuring, or workout of existing indebtedness, if taken to protect the insurer's interest in that investment;
   2. As realization on collateral for an obligation;
   3. In connection with an otherwise qualified investment or investment practice, as interest on or a dividend or other distribution related to the investment or investment practice or in connection with the refinancing of the investment, in each case for no additional or only nominal consideration;
   4. Under a lawful and bona fide agreement of recapitalization or voluntary or involuntary reorganization in connection with an investment held by the insurer; or
   5. Under a bulk reinsurance, merger, or consolidation transaction approved by the Commissioner if the assets constitute admissible investments for the ceding, merged, or consolidated companies.
4. An investment or portion of an investment acquired by an insurer under subsection (c) of this Code section shall become a nonadmitted asset three years (or five years in the case of mortgage loans and real estate) from the date of its acquisition, unless within that period the investment has become a qualified investment under a provision of this article other than subsection (c) of this Code section, but an investment acquired under an agreement of bulk reinsurance, merger, or consolidation may be qualified for a longer period if so provided in the plan for reinsurance, merger, or consolidation as approved by the Commissioner. Upon application by the insurer and a showing that the nonadmission of an asset held under subsection (c) of this Code section would materially injure the interests of the insurer, the Commissioner may extend the period for admissibility for an additional reasonable period of time.
5. Except as provided in subsections (f) and (h) of this Code section, an investment acquired or committed to be acquired prior to January 1, 2000, shall qualify under this article if, on the date the insurer committed to acquire the investment or on the date of its acquisition, it would have qualified under provisions of this chapter then in effect. For the purposes of determining limitations contained in this article, an insurer shall give appropriate recognition to any commitments to acquire investments.
6. 1. Each specific transaction constituting an investment practice of the type described in this article that was lawfully entered into by an insurer and was in effect on January 1, 2000, shall continue to be permitted under this article until its expiration or termination under its terms.
   2. A mortgage made pursuant to Code Section 33-11-55 or held as an admitted asset pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall remain qualified as an admitted asset regardless of any refinancing, modification, or extension of such mortgage loan.
7. Unless otherwise specified, an investment limitation computed on the basis of an insurer's admitted assets or capital and surplus shall relate to the amount required to be shown on the statutory balance sheet of the insurer most recently required to be filed with the Commissioner.
8. An investment qualified, in whole or in part, for acquisition or holding as an admitted asset may be qualified or requalified at the time of acquisition or a later date, in whole or in part, under any other provision of this article, if the relevant conditions contained in such other provision are satisfied at the time of qualification or requalification.
9. An insurer shall maintain documentation demonstrating that investments were acquired in accordance with this article and specifying the Code section under which they were acquired.
10. An insurer shall not enter into an agreement to purchase securities in advance of their issuance for resale to the public as part of a distribution of the securities by the issuer or otherwise guarantee the distribution, except that an insurer may acquire privately placed securities with registration rights.
11. Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, the Commissioner, for good cause, may order an insurer to nonadmit, limit, dispose of, withdraw from, or discontinue an investment or investment practice. The authority of the Commissioner under this subsection is in addition to any other authority of the Commissioner.
12. Insurance futures and insurance futures options are not considered investments or investment practices for purposes of this article.

(Code 1981, §33-11-57, enacted by Ga. L. 1999, p. 592, § 12; Ga. L. 2000, p. 136, § 33.)