Ca. Ins. Code § 12100 - Definitions

• Cite as: Ca. Ins. Code § 12100

As used in this article:

(a)

(1) "Financial guaranty insurance" means a surety bond, an insurance policy or, when issued by an insurer, an indemnity contract and any guarantee similar to the foregoing types, under which loss is payable upon proof of occurrence of financial loss to an insured claimant, obligee, or indemnitee as a result of any of the following events:

(A) Failure of any obligor on or issuer of any debt instrument or other monetary obligation (including equity securities guaranteed under a surety bond, insurance policy, or indemnity contract) to pay, when due to be paid by the obligor or scheduled at the time insured to be received by the holder of the obligation, principal, interest, premium, dividend, purchase price of or on the instrument or obligation, or other monetary payment when the failure is the result of financial default or insolvency, or, provided that the payment source is investment grade, any other failure of that payment source to make payment, regardless of whether the obligation is incurred directly or as guarantor by or on behalf of another obligor that has also defaulted.

(B) Changes in the levels of interest rates, whether short or long term, or the differential in interest rates between various markets or products.

(C) Changes in the rate of exchange of currency.

(D) Changes in the value of financial or commodity indices, or price levels in general.

(E) Other events that the commissioner determines by order, regulation, or written consent are substantially similar to any of the foregoing.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), "financial guaranty insurance" shall not include any of the following:

(A) Insurance of any loss resulting from any event described in paragraph (1), if the loss is payable only upon the occurrence of any of the following, as specified in a surety bond, insurance policy, or indemnity contract:

(i) A fortuitous physical event.

(ii) A failure of or deficiency in the operation of equipment.

(iii) An inability to extract or recover a natural resource.

(B) Title insurance authorized by Section 104 and as permitted to be written by title insurers pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 12340) of Part 6.

(C) Surety insurance as authorized by Section 105.

(D) Credit unemployment insurance, meaning insurance on a debtor in connection with a specific loan or other credit transaction, to provide payments to a creditor in the event of unemployment of the debtor for the installments or other periodic payments becoming due while a debtor is unemployed.

(E) Credit insurance authorized by Section 113.

(F) Guaranteed investment contracts and funding agreements issued by life insurance companies that provide that the life insurer itself will make specified payments in exchange for specific premiums or contributions.

(G) Mortgage guaranty insurance authorized by Section 119 and as permitted to be written by a mortgage guaranty insurer pursuant to Chapter 2A (commencing with Section 12640.01) of Part 6.

(H) Indemnity contracts or similar guarantees, to the extent that they are not otherwise limited or proscribed by this article, in which a life insurer does any of the following:

(i) Guarantees its obligations or indebtedness or the obligations or indebtedness of a subsidiary (as defined in Section 1215) other than a financial guaranty insurance corporation; provided that:

(I) To the extent that any obligations or indebtedness are backed by specific assets, those assets shall at all times be owned by the life insurer or the subsidiary.

(II) In the case of the guarantee of the obligations or indebtedness of the subsidiary that are not backed by specific assets of the life insurer, the guarantee terminates once the subsidiary ceases to be a subsidiary.

(ii) Guarantees obligations or indebtedness (including the obligation to substitute assets where appropriate) with respect to specific assets acquired by a life insurer in the course of normal investment activities and not for the purpose of resale with credit enhancement, or guarantees obligations or indebtedness acquired by its subsidiary, provided that the assets acquired pursuant to this clause have been either of the following:

(I) Acquired by a special purpose entity, whose sole purpose is to acquire specific assets of the life insurer or the subsidiary and issue securities or participation certificates backed by the assets.

(II) Sold to an independent third party.

(iii) Guarantees obligations or indebtedness of an employee or agent of the life insurer.

(I) Any cramdown bond or mortgage repurchase bond, as those phrases are used by nationally recognized rating agencies in respect of mortgage-backed securities.

(J) Residual value insurance.

(K) Any other form of insurance covering risks that the commissioner determines by order, regulation, or written consent to be substantially similar to any of the foregoing.

(b) "Affiliate" means a person that, directly or indirectly, owns at least 10 but less than 50 percent of the financial guaranty insurance corporation or that is at least 10 percent but less than 50 percent, directly or indirectly, owned by a financial guaranty insurance corporation.

(c) "Asset-backed securities" means either of the following:

(1) Securities or other financial obligations of an issuer provided that both of the following apply:

(A) The issuer is a special purpose corporation, trust, or other entity, or, provided that the securities or other financial obligations constitute an insurable risk, is a bank, trust company, or other financial institution, deposits in which are insured by the Bank Insurance Fund or the Savings Association Insurance Fund of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any successors thereto.