Supreme Court E-Library
Information At Your Fingertips

  View printer friendly version

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines  in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:

SECTION 1. Section one hundred and  sixty-nine of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 169.  In addition to the duties now imposed upon him by law, the Insular Treasurer shall act  as  Insurance Commissioner and  in  addition to his  present official title he shall hereafter be designated  as insurance  commissioner ex-officio: Provided, That he may,  with the approval of the Department Head,  designate any  officer or officers of the Bureau of the Treasury to  act  as his deputy or deputies, who  shall exercise  such  powers and duties as nay be assigned to him or them by the Insurance Commissioner."

SEC. 2.  Section  one hundred  and  seventy-two of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 172. After the becoming effective of this Act, no foreign or domestic insurance company  shall transact any new business in the Philippine Islands  until after it shall have obtained a  certificate  of  authority for that purpose from the Insurance Commissioner upon payment by  the company concerned of the fees hereinafter prescribed.  '

"The Insurance Commissioner may refuse to issue a certificate of authority to any insurance company if, in his judgment, such refusal will best promote the interests of the people of this country.  No such certificate of authority shall be granted to any such company until the Insurance Commissioner shall have satisfied himself  by such examination  as  he may make and such evidence as he may require that such company is  qualified by the laws of  the Philippine Islands to  transact business therein.  Said certificate of authority shall expire on the last day of June of each year and  shall be renewed annually if the company is continuing to comply with all of  the provisions of this chapter or the circulars, instructions or rulings  of the Insurance Commissioner.   Before issuing such certificate of authority, the Insurance  Commissioner must be satisfied that the name of the company is not that of any other known company transacting a similar business, or a name so similar as to be calculated to mislead the public.  Every company receiving any such certificate  of  authority shall be subject to the insurance laws of the Philippine Islands  and to the jurisdiction and supervision of the Insurance Commissioner."

SEC.  3. Section one hundred  and  seventy-three of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 173.  The Insurance Commissioner shall require each domestic insurance company to keep its books, records, accounts, and vouchers  in  such manner that  he  or  his authorized  representatives may readily verify its annual statements  and ascertain whether the company  is solvent and has  complied with the  provisions of this chapter, or circulars, instructions or rulings of the Insurance Commissioner."

SEC. 4. Section one hundred and seventy-four of  Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read  as follows:

  "SEC. 174.  The Insurance Commissioner shall at least once a year and whenever he considers  the public interest so demands,  cause  an examination  to  be made into  the financial condition of every domestic insurance company.

Such company shall submit to the examiner all such books, papers and securities as he may require  and such examiner shall also have the power to examine the  officers of such corporation under oath touching its  business and financial condition, and the authority  of any such company to transact business in the Philippine Islands that refuses to allow such examination, shall be revoked by the Insurance Commissioner, and such company shall not thereafter be allowed to transact further business in the Philippine Islands until it has fully complied with the provisions of this section.

"The Insurance Commissioner, for the  examination herein prescribed and in section one hundred and seventy-five of this Act, shall collect and receive fees of one hundred pesos  from each foreign insurance company examined.  For the examination of each domestic  insurance company, the Insurance Commissioner shall collect fees according to the amount of its total assets, as follows:

"Less than five hundred thousand pesos, one hundred; pesos.

"Five hundred thousand pesos or more but less than one million pesos, one hundred  fifty pesos.

"One million pesos or more but less than two million pesos, two hundred pesos.

"Two million pesos or more, three hundred pesos.

"Provided, That, if the said examination  is made in the provinces outside  the City of Manila, besides these fees the Insurance Commissioner  shall  require of the company examined  the payment of the actual and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses of the examiner or  examiners."

SEC. 5.  Section one hundred and seventy-five of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred  and  twenty-seven' is  hereby amended to read as follows:

  "SEC. 175. If the  Insurance  Commissioner  is of the opinion upon examination or other evidence that  any foreign or domestic  insurance company  is in an  unsound condition, or that  it has failed to comply with any provision of law or regulations obligatory upon it, or that in the opinion of the Insurance Commissioner, its condition or method of business is such as to render its  proceedings hazardous to the public or to its policy holders or that its actual assets exclusive of its capital are less than its liabilities, including unearned premiums and reinsurance reserve, the Insurance Commissioner is authorized to revoke or suspend all certificates of authority granted  to  such insurance company, its officers or agents, and no new  business  shall thereafter be done by such company or for such company by its agents in the Philippine  Islands while such revocation, suspension or disability  continues or until its authority to  do business is restored by the Insurance Commissioner."

SEC.  6. The first paragraph of  section one hundred and seventy-seven of  Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven  is hereby amended  to read as follows:

"SEC.  177.  The Insurance Commissioner  must require as a condition precedent to the transaction of insurance business in the  Philippine Islands by any  foreign insurance company, that such company file  in his office a written power of attorney designating some  person who shall be a resident of the  Philippine  Islands as  its general agent, on whom any notice provided by  law or by any insurance policy,  proof  of loss, summons and other  process may be served in all actions or other legal proceedings against such company, and consenting that service  upon such general agent shall be admitted and held  as valid as if  served upon the foreign company at its home office.  Any such foreign company shall, as a  further condition precedent to the transaction  of insurance business in the Philippine Islands, make and file with the Insurance Commissioner an agreement or stipulation, executed  by the proper authorities of: said company in  form and substance  as follows:"

SEC. 7.  Section one hundred and eighty of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 180.  Every insurance company, doing business in the  Philippine Islands, shall annually on or before the thirtieth day  of April,  of each year, render to the  Insurance Commissioner a statement signed and sworn to by  the chief officer of such company showing, in such  form and detail as may be prescribed by the Insurance Commissioner, the  exact  condition  of its affairs on the preceding thirty-first day of December: Provided, That in case the fiscal year of  an insurance  company does  not terminate  with  the thirty-first day of December,  it shall be deemed a sufficient compliance with this section if the report is made to coincide with the regular fiscal year of the company.  In such case the report of the company shall be filed with the  Insurance Commissioner within four months after  the close of its fiscal year: And provided,  further, That the Insurance Commissioner may in his discretion,  and upon  approval  of  the Secretary of Finance,  grant an extension of nut  exceeding six months, to  any  company, upon his  being satisfied that the period of four months  granted by this section is  inadequate with regard to  said company.

"'For the filing of the annual  statement the  Insurance Commissioner shall collect  and receive from all  insurance companies  doing business in the Philippine Islands a fee of twenty-five pesos."

SEC. 8.  The  first  paragraph  of  section  one  hundred eighty-four of  Act Numbered Twenty-four  hundred and twenty-seven  is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 184.  Hereafter  no policy of  insurance  shall  be issued or delivered within  the Philippine Islands  unless in the  form  previously approved  by the  Insurance Commissioner.  In the case of life or endowment insurance,  the policy shall contain in substance the following provisions:"

SEC. 9.  Section one  hundred and eighty-seven of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby  amended to read  as follows: '

  "SEC. 187.  No fire or marine or miscellaneous insurance corporation whether foreign  or  domestic  shall  insure  on any one risk or hazard  to an amount exceeding ten  per cent of its net assets as may  be computed from the last annual financial statement submitted to the Insurance Commissioner,  unless it  has  provided for  reinsurance  of  the excess over said limit to take  effect simultaneously with the original contract."

SEC. 10. Section  one hundred and  eighty-nine of  Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

  "SEC. 189.  No insurance company doing business within the  Philippine  Islands,  nor  any  agent thereof, shall pay any commission or other compensation to any person for services in obtaining new insurance,  unless  such  person shall have  first procured  from the Insurance Commissioner a certificate of authority to act as an agent of  such company  as  hereinafter provided.  No person shall  act  as agent,  sub-agent, or broker in  the solicitation or procurement of applications for insurance, or receive for services in obtaining new insurance any commission or other compensation from any  insurance company  doing  business in the Philippine Islands, or agent thereof, without first procuring a certificate of authority so to act from the Insurance Commissioner,  which must be renewed annually on the first  day of January, or within six months thereafter. Such certificate shall be issued by the Insurance Commissioner  only upon  the written application of persons desiring such  authority,  such application being approved and countersigned  by the company such  person desires to represent, and shall be upon a form approved by the Insurance Commissioner,  giving such  information  as he  may require.   The  Insurance Commissioner shall have the right to refuse to issue or renew and to revoke any such certificate in his discretion.   No  such certificate shall be valid., however,  in any  event  after the first day  of July of the year following the  issuing of  such certificate.   Renewal certificates may  be  issued upon the  application  of the company.

"Any  person who for compensation  solicits  or obtains insurance on behalf of any insurance company, or transmits for a person other than himself an application for  a policy of insurance to or from such company or offers or assumes to act in the  negotiating of  such insurance,  shall be an insurance agent within  the intent of  this section, and shall thereby become liable to all the duties, requirements, liabilities,  and penalties to which an agent of such company is subject.

"Any person or company violating the provisions of this section shall be fined in the sum of five hundred pesos. 'On the conviction of any person acting as agent, sub-agent, or broker, of the  commission of any offense connected with the business  of insurance,  the Insurance Commissioner  shall immediately revoke the certificate of authority issued to him and no such certificate shall  thereafter be issued to such convicted person."

SEC. 11. Chapter six of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and twenty-seven is hereby amended by inserting the following  section therein:

   "SEC. 204 (a). For issuing certificates of authority pursuant to sections one hundred and seventy-two, one hundred and eighty-nine, one hundred and ninety-two, and two hundred and two of this Act, the Insurance Commissioner shall collect and receive the following fees:

"For each certificate of authority issued to an insurance company doing business in the Philippine Islands, one hundred pesos.

"For  each  certificate of authority issued to a general agent of said company, fifty pesos.

"For each certificate  of authority issued to an agent who is not a general agent of said company, fifteen pesos.

"Provided, That all the companies, persons, societies or associations  of persons, general agents,  and  brokers  or agents who are  not general agents  whose certificates of authority to  engage in insurance or to act  as agents or brokers  of said companies, persons, societies  or associations, are m  force  on  the approval  of  this Act, shall pay the fees herein prescribed: Provided, further, That for renewing any  certificate of  authority,  one-half  of the fee corresponding to  the  first issuance thereof  shall be collected."

SEC. 12. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved,  March 6, 1924.