Rounds also opposed the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers' legal efforts to break
countersignature laws, testifying in federal court against the CIAB legal initiative last year.
The ruling is a victory for The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, which has gone to federal court in six states and jurisdictions where
countersignature laws remain on the books, arguing those statutes are unconstitutional.
He noted Nevada, South Dakota and West Virginia had similar
countersignature laws.
They include the refusal of certain states to recognize risk retention group coverage as evidence of financial responsibility with regard to certain liability coverages; the policy of some states to impose a surplus lines tax on risk retention groups rather than taxing them as admitted insurers (the current requirement results generally in a higher tax rate); the practice of some non-chartering states to charge high filing fees; and the need to clarify
countersignature laws.
These countersignature laws are stubborn vestiges of protectionism that have no place in the 21st Century," said Ken A.
The countersignature laws and the discrimination practiced do not bear a substantial relationship to any legitimate objectives of South Dakota," the judge said in a 12-page opinion.
Likewise, she points to other barriers to entry for nonresident producers, key among them countersignature laws that several states, most notably Florida, continue to carry on their books.
Specifically, he pointed out that while only a few jurisdictions still have countersignature laws, less progress has been made on what he termed the "secondary level" of statutes that act in concert with countersignature laws.
These countersignature laws are the last vestiges of a bygone era of protectionism, and it is time to wipe them out.
The suit argues that the Commonwealth's countersignature law violates the Privilege and Immunities Clause of the U.
