Designation of independent certified public accountant

1. Each insurer required by this chapter to file an annual audited financial report within sixty days after becoming subject to the requirement, shall register with the commissioner in writing the name and address of the independent certified public accountant or accounting firm retained to conduct the annual audit under this chapter. Insurers not retaining an independent certified public accountant on October 1, 1995, shall register the name and address of their retained independent certified public accountants not less than six months before the date when the first audited financial report is to be filed. 2. The insurer shall obtain a letter from the accountant and file a copy with the commissioner stating that the accountant is aware of the provisions of the insurance code and the rules and regulations of the insurance department of the state of domicile that relate to accounting and financial matters and affirming that the accountant will express an opinion on the financial statements in terms of their conformity to the statutory accounting practices prescribed or otherwise permitted by that department, specifying the exceptions as the accountant may believe appropriate. 3. If an accountant who was the accountant for the immediately preceding filed audited financial report is dismissed or resigns, the insurer shall within five business days notify the commissioner of this event. The insurer shall also furnish the commissioner with a separate letter within ten business days of the above notification stating whether in the twenty-four months preceding the event there were any disagreements with the former accountant on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure; which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the former accountant, would have caused the accountant to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with the accountant's opinion. The disagreements required to be reported in response to this section include both those resolved to the former accountant's satisfaction and those not resolved to the former accountant's satisfaction. Disagreements contemplated by this section are those that occur at the decisionmaking level, that is between personnel of the insurer responsible for presentation of its financial statements and personnel of the accounting firm responsible for rendering its report. The insurer shall also in writing request the former accountant to furnish a letter addressed to the insurer stating whether the accountant agrees with the statements contained in the insurer's letter and, if not, stating the reasons for which the accountant does not agree; and the insurer shall furnish the responsive letter from the former accountant to the commissioner together with its own.