Additional Changes Published for Proposed Annual Audited Financial Reports ‘Model Audit’ Rule

Jul 21, 2010

 

Changes that were inadvertently omitted to the previously published version of proposed Rule 69O-137.002, entitled “Annual Audited Financial Reports,” were issued by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) today, July 21, 2010.  Rule 69O-137.002 is also known as the “Model Audit Rule.”

The omitted changes are reprinted below.

After initial Rule development, which commenced on October 21, 2009, several subsequent scheduled final adoption hearings were canceled successively.  Meanwhile, additional revisions to the proposed Rule were made in response to concerns expressed by the Florida Joint Administrative Procedures Committee (“JAPC”).  To view the revisions previously posted during July 2010, click here.

The final adoption hearing scheduled by the Florida Cabinet for June 8, 2010 has been continued to take place on July 27, 2010.

To view the complete event documentation on proposed Rule 69O-137.002, which includes correspondence between the OIR and JAPC, click here.

 

NOTICE OF CHANGE

July 21, 2010

RULE NUMBER:  69O-137.002   RULE TITLE:  Model Audit Rule  (Annual Audited Financial Reports)

Notice is hereby given that in the original notice of change published on July 16, 2010 in FAW the following changes were inadvertently omitted:

In 69O-137.002(14)(g), Note A will now read as follows: “The Office has authority afforded by Section 624.4085, F.S., to require the entity’s board to enact improvements to the independence of the Audit committee membership if the insurer is in a Risk Based Capital action level event, meets one or more of the standards of an insurer deemed to be in hazardous financial condition, or otherwise exhibits qualities of a troubled insurer.”

69O-137.002(17)(a) will now read as follows:  “Upon written application of any insurer, the Office shall grant an exemption from compliance with the filing of an annual audited financial report received by the Office by March 1 of the year following the calendar year to which the application applies any and all provisions of this rule if the Office finds, upon review of the application, that compliance with this regulation would constitute an undue financial or organizational hardship upon the insurer. the insurer is under an order of receivership, conservatorship, rehabilitation, or is in another delinquency proceeding by the public insurance supervising official of any state, and the insurer has been granted an exemption from filing an annual audited financial report by its state of domicile. An exemption shall be granted for one year only. Exemptions for future years require additional applications.”

The remainder of the Rule reads as previously published and changed by the July 16, 2010 Notice of Change.

 

 

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.