PART I. stock or premium notes. Capital for life or surance. county of New York, nor in the county of Kings, with a S6. No company formed for doing the business of life or health in health insurance on the plan of mutual insurance shall commence business until a cash capital of one hundred thousand dollars shall have been paid in and actually invested either in the stocks of the incorporated cities of this state, the stocks 'of this state or of the United States, or in bonds and mortgages on cultivated farms, worth double the amount for which the same is mortgaged; the value of the land to be appraised by three disinterested commissioners, appointed by the first judge of the county where such company is to be located. Farm buildings to form no part of the valuation. respecting incorporat states. 28 B, 576. See Laws of 1853, ch. 463, § 22. Post, p. 316. Provision $7. It shall not be lawful for any company organized under Companies this act to transact business unless possessed of capital or seed by other curities as herein before mentioned; nor shall it be lawful for any agent or agents of insurance companies incorporated by other states, directly or indirectly to take risks, or transact any business of insurance in this state, without procuring a certificate of authority from the comptroller of this state, and such agent or agents, having procured a statement under the oath of the president or secretary of the company for which he or they may act, which statement shall show the amount of the capital of such company, the manner in which the same is invested, and shall also state the fact whether its capital is impaired, and if so, how much; such statement CHAP. XX foreign go shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county where such agent resides, and shall be published in at least one newspaper, if a newspaper be therein published, at least six successive weeks after the filing of such statement as aforesaid; the first statement shall be filed in the month of January next, and such statement shall be procured annually, and filed and published in each and every succeeding month of January thereafter, as long as such agency continues, and no company incorporated by other states shall transact business in this state, unless possessed of the amount of actual capital required of companies formed under the provisions of this act, and no agency of any life insurance company formed under the laws of other states, shall transact its business in this state, unless it shall first prove to the satisfaction of the comptroller, of which fact he shall give a certificate to be filed in the office of the clerk of the county where such agency is established, that it possesses such an amount of actual capital as is required of companies transacting the business of life insurance under the laws of this state. Nor Respecting companies shall it be lawful for any agent or agents, hereafter to be formed by *appointed, of any company incorporated by any foreign gov-vernments. ernment, other than the states of this Union, for the purpose of insurance, to transact the business of insurance in this state, without procuring a certificate of authority from the comptroller; such agent or agents having previously furnished evidence to the satisfaction of the comptroller of the state, that such company has invested in the stocks of this state, or the United States, an amount equal to the amount of capital or security required by this act, and such stocks are held in trust by citizens of this state for the benefit and security of such as may effect insurance with him or them. And the agent or agents furnishing satisfactory evidence as aforesaid, shall be entitled to a certificate thereof from the comptroller aforesaid. The statements and evidences of invest- Statements ments required by this section, shall be renewed from year to ally renewyear, in the month of January in each year, and the comptroller, on being satisfied that the capital securities and investments remain secure as at first, shall furnish a renewal of certificates as aforesaid; and the agent or agents obtaining such certificates shall file the same together with a copy of the statements on which it was obtained or renewed, in the office of the clerk of the county in which such agency shall be established, and shall cause the same to be published in at least one newspaper published in such county. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall subject the party violating to a penalty of five hundred dollars for each violation, which shall be sued for and recovered in the name of the people, by the district attorney of the county in which the agent or company so violating shall be situated, and the said penalty when recovered shall be paid into the treasury of said county, provided that all companies incorporated by anv to be annu ed. PART I. government other than the states of this Union, which may have appointed such agent or agents before the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, may hereafter appoint a new agent or agents in the case of the death, resignation or removal of an agent or agents previMeaning of ously appointed. The term agent or agents used in this the term agent. Capital or invested. section, shall include an acknowledged agent or surveyor, or any other person or persons, who shall in any manner aid in transacting the insurance business of an insurance company not incorporated by the laws of this state. 12 N. Y., 569. S 8. It shall be lawful for any company organized under funds, how this act, to invest its capital or the funds accumulated by its business or any part thereof in bonds and mortgages on unincumbered real estate within the state of New York, worth fifty per cent more than the sum loaned thereon, and also in the stocks of this state or of the United States, and also in any or all stocks or bonds of either of the incorporated cities of this state, and which stocks or bonds shall be at or above par at the time of such investment, and to lend the same or any part thereof, on the security of such stock or bonds, and any company organized for the purpose of marine insurance, may, in addition to the foregoing, loan their funds on bottomry and respondentia, and change and re-invest the same, as occasion may from time to time require. Surplus. Restriction as to real estate. But any surplus accumulation over and above the capital stock of any such company, may be invested in or loaned upon the pledge of the public stock of any one of the United States, or the stock, bonds or other evidence of debt of any institution incorporated under the laws of this state, except their own stock; provided that the current market value of such corporate stocks, bonds or other evidence of debt, shall be at the time of the loan thereon at least ten per cent more than the sum so loaned thereon: Provided, however, that any permanent or reserved fund established or created by such company shall be invested in the same manner as capital stock is required to be, except that the restriction as to the securities being at par shall not apply thereto. Thus amended by Laws of 1857, ch. 469. 24 B., 199; 15 W., 502; 1 Hall, 480, 554; 36 B., 635. S9. No company organized by or under the provisions of this act shall be permitted to purchase, hold and convey real estate, excepting for the purposes and in the manner herein set forth to wit: 1. Such as shall be requisite for its immediate accommodation in the transactions of its business: or, 2. Such as shall have been mortgaged to it in good faith, by way of security for loans previously contracted or for moneys due: or, 3. Such as shall have been conveyed to it in satisfaction of debts previously contracted in the course of its dealings: or, 4. Such as shall have been purchased at sales upon judgments, decrees or mortgages obtained or made for such debts; and it shall not be lawful for any company incorporated as aforesaid, to purchase, hold or convey real estate, in any other case or for any other purpose; and all such real estate as may be acquired as aforesaid, and which shall not be necessary for the accommodation of such company in the convenient transaction of its business, shall be sold and disposed of within five years after such company shall have acquired title to the same, and it shall not be lawful for such company to hold such real estate for a longer period than that above mentioned, unless the said company shall procure a certificate from the comptroller, that the interests of the company will suffer materially by a forced sale of such real estate, in which event the time for the sale may be extended to such time as the comptroller shall direct in said certificate. CHAP. XX. manner of be declared $10. In addition to the foregoing provisions, it shall be the Mode and duty of the corporators of any and every company organized acting to under this act to declare in the charter, which is herein in charter. required to be filed, the mode and manner in which the corporate powers given under and by virtue of this act are to be exercised, the mode and manner of electing trustees or directors, a majority of whom shall be citizens of this state, and the filling of vacancies, the period for the commencement and termination of its fiscal year, together with the amount of capital to be employed in the transaction of its business. 29 B., 306; 25 B., 458; 23 B., 656. amined by general, and $ 11. The charter thus filed by the corporation shall be ex- To be examined by the attorney-general, and if found to be in accor- attorneydance with the requirements of this act and not inconsistent by comp with the constitution or laws of this state, he shall certify the troller." same to the comptroller of the state, and the said comptroller shall thereupon cause an examination to be made, either by himself, or by three disinterested persons specially appointed by him for that purpose, who shall certify under oath that an amount equal at least to the amount specified in the fifth section of this act, if it be a stock company, has been paid in and is possessed by it in money, or in such stocks and bonds and mortgages as are required by the eighth section of this act: or if a mutual company, that it has received and is in actual possession of the capital, premiums or engagements of insurance, as the case may be, to the full extent required by the fifth section of this act; or if it be a life and health insurance company, to the full amount, and invested in the same manner as required by the sixth section of this act; copies of such certificate shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state, whose duty it shall then be to furnish the corporation with a certified copy of the charter and certificates aforesaid, which upon being filed by them in the office of the clerk of the county in which their company is to be located, shall be their authority to commence business and issue policies, and PART I. By-laws may be made. Annual statement to be made and pub lished. Contents of same. the same may be used in evidence for or against said corporation. 29 B., 306; 28 B, 578; 25 B., 109, 463; 24 B., 395; 21 B., 605; 41 B., 155; 37 B., 606. S 12. The corporators, or the trustees or directors, as the case may be, of any company organized under the provisions of this act, shall have power to make such by-laws, not inconsistent with the constitution or laws of this state, as may be deemed necessary for the government of its officers and the conduct of its affairs. 23 B., 656; 31 N. Y., 312. 13. It shall be the duty of the president or vice-president, and secretary of each marine insurance company incorporated by or organized under any law of this state, annually on the first day of January, or within one month thereafter, to prepare, under their own oath, and deposit in the office of the insurance department a statement of the conditon and affairs of such company for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December then next preceding, exhibiting the total amount of premiums received, and the total amount of losses, paid and ascertained, including expenses during the year; also the amount of debts owing by the company at the date of the statement, and the amount of claims which then exist against the company for losses accrued, showing what amount of such claims for losses is payable on demand, what amount thereof is considered fair or legal, the payment of which has not then matured according to the contract, and what amount thereof is resisted on account of alleged fraud, or from which the company do not consider themselves legally liable; also a statement of the securities representing the capital stock, and all funds of the company, and also whether any of the securities held or owned by such company are considered bad or doubtful, and if so specifying the amount of such securities, and the gross amount of outstanding risks thereon, and exhibiting also the assets and liabilities of the company, its income and expenditures during the year, scrip issued and redeemed, and other miscellaneous items in such form and manner as shall from time to time be prescribed by the superintendent of the insurance department. The statement herein provided for shall be in lieu of all statements now required to be made or published by any existing law or provision. The superintendent of the insurance department may from time to time make such changes in the form of said annual statements as shall seem to him best adapted to elicit from the said companies a true exhibit of their condition, situation and affairs. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of the insurance department to cause the information contained in such annual statements to be arranged and In case of communicated to the legislature with his annual report. If, upon due deficiency. examination, it shall appear to the superintendent of the insurance department that the losses and expenses of any stock company during the year have exceeded the premiums, and in consequence thereof the capital of such company has become deficient, or from any other cause has become impaired to the extent of twenty-five per cent, it shall be the duty of the said superintendent of the insurance department to direct the officers of any such company within sixty days, to proceed to wind up its business, unless within that time the stockholders thereof |