As I’ve written in the past, we have a “death penalty” for corporations; it&‘s called revoking the corporate charter. It’s almost never used, but here in Minnesota it looks like the state Commerce Commissioner is accomplishing the same end with less fuss.
Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Jim Bernstein has announced his intent to fine a Florida-based insurance company US$10 million and bar the company from doing business in the state because of repeated and willful violations of the state’s insurance law.
Bernstein claims that units of the American Bankers Insurance Co., which appears to be part of the Assurant Group—which itself seems to be part of the Fortis Group—sold more than 200,000 illegal insurance policies in Minnesota, failed to provide information to the state Commerce Department, and violated a 1998 consent order. The insurance company paid a record civil penalty of US$688,776 in the 1998 consent order.
Barring the insurance company from doing business in Minnesota will apparently be a costly proposition for the state: Minnesota has fined the company four times since 1993, to the tune of US$957,700.
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