West Virginia Code
Article 27. Insurance Holding Company Systems
§33-27-2a. Subsidiaries of Insurers; Authorization; Investment Authority; Exemptions; Qualifications; Cessation of Controls

(a) Authorization. – Any domestic insurer, either by itself or in cooperation with one or more persons, may organize or acquire one or more subsidiaries engaged in the following kinds of business with the commissioner's prior approval:
(1) Any kind of insurance business authorized by the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated;
(2) Acting as an insurance agent for its parent or for any of its parent's insurer subsidiaries;
(3) Investing, reinvesting or trading in securities for its own account, that of its parent, any subsidiary of its parent, or any affiliate or subsidiary;
(4) Management of any investment company subject to or registered pursuant to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, including related sales and services;
(5) Acting as a broker-dealer subject to or registered pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;
(6) Rendering investment advice to governments, government agencies, corporations or other organizations or groups;
(7) Rendering other services related to the operations of an insurance business, including, but not limited to, actuarial, loss prevention, safety engineering, data processing, accounting, claims, appraisal and collection services;
(8) Ownership and management of assets which the parent corporation could itself own or manage;
(9) Acting as administrative agent for a governmental instrumentality which is performing an insurance function;
(10) Financing of insurance premiums, agents and other forms of consumer financing;
(11) Any other business activity determined by the commissioner to be reasonably ancillary to an insurance business; and
(12) Owning a corporation or corporations engaged or organized to engage exclusively in one or more of the businesses specified in this section;
(b) Additional investment authority. -- In addition to investments in common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations and other securities permitted under any other provision of this chapter, a domestic insurer may also with the commissioner's prior approval:
(1) Invest in common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations and other securities of one or more subsidiaries, amounts which do not exceed the lesser of ten percent of the insurer's assets or fifty percent of the insurer's surplus as regards policyholders: Provided, That after the investments, the insurer's surplus as regards policyholders will be reasonable in relation to the insurer's outstanding liabilities and adequate to its financial needs. In calculating the amount of the investments, investments in domestic or foreign insurance subsidiaries shall be excluded and there shall be included:
(A) Total net moneys or other consideration expended and obligations assumed in the acquisition or formation of a subsidiary, including all organizational expenses and contributions to capital and surplus of the subsidiary whether or not represented by the purchase of capital stock or issuance of other securities; and
(B) All amounts expended in acquiring additional common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations and other securities, and all contributions to the capital or surplus, of a subsidiary subsequent to its acquisition or formation;
(2) Invest any amount in common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations and other securities of one or more subsidiaries engaged or organized to engage exclusively in the ownership and management of assets authorized as investments for the insurer: Provided, That each subsidiary agrees to limit its investments in any asset so that the investments will not cause the amount of the total investment of the insurer to exceed any of the investment limitations specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection or in article eight of this chapter applicable to the insurer. For the purpose of this subdivision, "the total investment of the insurer" includes:
(A) Any direct investment by the insurer in an asset; and
(B) The insurer's proportionate share of any investment in an asset by any subsidiary of the insurer, which shall be calculated by multiplying the amount of the subsidiary's investment by the percentage of the ownership of the subsidiary.
(3) With the approval of the commissioner, invest any greater amount in common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations or other securities of one or more subsidiaries: Provided, That after investment the insurer's surplus as regards policyholders will be reasonable in relation to the insurer's outstanding liabilities and adequate to its financial needs.
(c) Exemption from investment restrictions. -- Investments in common stock, preferred stock, debt obligations or other securities of subsidiaries made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section are not subject to any of the otherwise applicable restrictions or prohibitions contained in this chapter applicable to the investments of insurers.
(d) Qualification of investment; when determined. -- Whether any investment made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section meets the applicable requirements of that subsection is to be determined before the investment is made, by calculating the applicable investment limitations as though the investment had already been made, taking into account the then outstanding principal balance on all previous investments in debt obligations, and the value of all previous investments in equity securities as of the day they were made, net of any return of capital invested, not including dividends.
(e) Cessation of control. -- If an insurer ceases to control a subsidiary, it shall dispose of any investment in the subsidiary made pursuant to this section within three years from the time of the cessation of control or within any further time prescribed by the commissioner, unless at any time after the investment was made, the investment meets the requirements for investment under any other provision of this chapter and the insurer has notified the commissioner of compliance with the provisions of this chapter.