PART I. charters. sion, in the office of the secretary of the state, and upon the filing of such consent, declaration and charter, the same proceedings shall be had as are required by the eleventh section of this act, and any of the mutual insurance companies already chartered by the legislature of this state, may, after giving ninety days' notice in three of the public papers of the state, change to joint stock companies by proceeding in accordance with and conforming their charter to the provisions of this act. 25 B., 463. Duration of $ 15. All charters formed or extended under this act, shall be of thirty years' duration each, except those of life insurance, but the legislature may at any time alter, amend or repeal this act, or dissolve and provide for the closing up the business and affairs of any company formed under it. Suits, how 25 B., 109. S16. Suits at law may be maintained by any corporation maintained formed under this act, against any of its members or stockholders, for any cause relating to the business of such corporation; also suits at law may be prosecuted and maintained by any member or stockholder against such corporation for losses which may have accrued if payment is withheld more than two months in all risks after such losses shall have become due. Companies to be sub vised Sta 25 B., 109; 19 B., 442; 16 B., 171. 17. All companies formed under this act shall be deemed jeet to Re- and taken to be bodies corporate and politic in fact and in name, and shall be subject to all the provisions of the Revised Statutes in relation to corporations so far as the same are applicable. tutes about trade. Restriction $18. No company formed under this act, shall, directly or indirectly, deal or trade in buying and selling any goods, wares, merchandise, or other commodities whatever. Liability of corporators Dividends. $ 19. The trustees and corporators of any company organised under this act, and those entitled to a participation of the profits shall be jointly and severally liable until the whole amount of the capital raised by the company shall have been paid in, and a certificate thereof recorded, as herein before provided. Notes taken in advance of premiums under this act are not to be considered debts of the company in determining whether a company is insolvent, but are to be regarded as assets of the company, $20. No dividend shall ever be made by any company incorporated under this act, when its capital stock is impaired, or when the making of such dividend will have the effect of impairing its capital stock, and any dividend so made shall subject each of the stockholders receiving the same to an individual liability to the creditors of said company, to the extent of such dividend received by him. Thus amended by Laws of 1857, ch. 38. CHAP. XX. may com and capital. $21. It shall be lawful for any mutual company established Marine or to be established in conformity with the provisions of the companies fourth section of this act, for the purposes of marine insurance, bine mutual and having complied with the provisions of the fifth and eleventh sections of this act, to unite a cash capital to any extent not less than two hundred thousand dollars, as an additional security to the members over and above its premiums and stock notes, which additional cash capital shall be loaned and invested as provided in the eighth section of this act, and the company may allow an interest on such cash capital, and a participation in its profits; but no such interest shall be paid except out of the actual profits of such company, and no company shall avail itself of the provisions of this section until such cash capital, to the extent of at least one hundred thousand dollars, shall have been actually paid in, in cash; and the subscribers to such cash capital, whether payable in Subscriber full or by installments, shall each be individually liable for the ally liable. debts of said company to the extent of his individual subscription, or such proportion thereof as shall be required in order to satisfy the debts of said company, unless he shall have paid his subscription in full, and such cash capital shall itself be Capital to liable as the capital stock of the company in the payment of its debts. The holders of the said cash capital shall be entitled, in the election of trustees, to one vote for each one hundred dollars of stock held by them respectively, and the trustees may make such regulations in relation to the certificates of stock to be issued, and the transfer thereof, as they may deem necessary for the security of the company and the owners of the cash capital. Thus amended by Laws of 1857, ch. 38; 28 B., 576. individu be liable. companies S22. Any mutual insurance company heretofore incorpo- Existing rated by the state, and now in operation, having power to may ineffect marine insurance and having its place of business in the crease. city of New York, may increase its capital or fund on the amount of accumulated net profits, which it is permitted to retain for the benefit and security of its dealers to any amount which shall be deemed expedient by its board of trustees, provided however, that if there be in the charter of such mutual insurance company any limitation of its capital or fund, or the amount of net profits which it has the power to accumulate and retain, such increase shall not take place unless a written. consent thereto under the corporate seal of the said company affixed thereto by a resolution of the board of trustees or directors, certified by the secretary, shall first be filed in the office of the comptroller of this state, and provided that the privilege of retaining profits over one million of dollars shall not be exercised by any company availing itself of the provisions of this act, until a sufficient sum shall have been applied by such company, according to the provisions of its PART L charter, towards the redemption of all certificates or premiums heretofore issued and now outstanding. Added by Laws of 1855, ch. 292. $100,000 to ed with CHAP. 95. AN ACT in relation to all companies transacting the business of Life Insurance within this State. PASSED April 8, 1851. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: $1. Every company or association transacting the business be deposit of life insurance within the state of New York, shall, on or comptroller before the first day of August, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, deposit with the comptroller of this state the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and on or before the first day of February thereafter, the further sum of fifty thousand dollars, in public stocks of the United States, or of this state, or 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 deposit, or in bonds and mortgages on unincumbered improved real estate situate within this state, and worth at least fifty per cent more than the amount of the mortgage thereon; and the president or agent of every company shall annex to every mortgage his affidavit that said mortgage was made and taken in good faith for money loaned by the company which he represents, to the amount therein named, and that no part thereof has been since paid or returned, and that he has reason to believe, and does believe, that the premises thereby mortgaged are worth at least fifty per cent more than the amount of the mortgage thereon; and the comptroller shall prescribe such regulations for ascertaining the title and value of such real estate as he may deem necessary; provided, however, that companies or associations established, or which may commence operation in this state by agents or otherwise, subsequent to the passage of this act, shall, before obtaining the certificate required by the act to provide for the incorporation of insurance companies, passed April tenth, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, deposit with the comptroller the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, in securities as hereinbefore specified. Money, how held and how managed. S2. The comptroller shall hold said stocks, bonds and mortgages as security for policy holders in said companies, but shall, so long as any company so depositing shall continue solvent and shall comply with all the requisites of the laws of this state applicable to such company, permit such company to collect the interest or dividends on its bonds and mortgages or stocks so deposited, and from time to time to withdraw any of such securities on depositing with the comptroller other like securities, stocks or mortgages, the par value of which shall be equal to the par value of such as may be withdrawn; each mortgage so substituted to be also accompanied with an affidavit as required in the first section; and the comptroller shall prescribe such regulations for ascertaining the title and value of the real estate covered by the mortgage so substituted, as he may deem necessary. CHAP. XX. foreign $ 3. It shall not be lawful for any person to act, within this Agents for state, as agent or otherwise in receiving or procuring applica- companies. tion for insurance in or in any manner to aid in transacting the insurance business of any company or association not incorporated under the laws of this state, until he has procured a certificate from the comptroller that the company or association for which he acts has complied with all the provisions of this act; and for every certificate so obtained the sum of three dollars shall be paid to the comptroller. 12 N. Y., 569; 20 B., 68. be made by $4. Every company or corporation organized under the Reports to laws of sister states or foreign governments, and transacting foreign the business of life insurance in this state, shall, within three companies. months after the passage of this act, and on or before the first day of February in each year thereafter, furnish to the comptroller, and shall also publish in the state paper, daily for two weeks, a statement, verified by the oath of their president or principal officer, and a majority of their directors or trustees, showing the amount of paid up capital, and accumulations of which they are possessed, and specifying the securities in which they are invested, with the amount of each; the number of policies, and the amount of outstanding risks thereon; the several amounts received in premiums and from other sources for the current year; the amount of losses and expenses severally for the same period; the amount of claims remaining unpaid; the amount of fund reserved for re-insurance; the amount of premium notes held by the company on account of policies in force; the amount of premium notes, if any, held on account of policies upon which the risk has terminated; the whole number of policies issued or continued through their agencies in this state, the amount at risk thereon, and the gross amount of premiums received therefor in the year preceding their report; the number and amount of losses paid through their agencies during the same period. be examin $5. It shall be lawful for the comptroller, whenever he Affairs to shall deem it expedient so to do, to appoint one or more com- ed. petent persons, not officers of any life insurance company doing business in this state, to examine into the affairs of any life insurance company incorporated in this state, or doing business by its agents in this state, and it shall be the duty of the officers or agents of any company doing business in this state, to cause their books to be opened for the inspection of the person or persons so appointed, and otherwise to facilita te such examination so far as it may be in their power to PART I. do; and for that purpose the comptroller or the person or persons so appointed by him, shall have power to examine, under oath, the officers and agents of any company relative to the business of said company; and whenever the comptroller And report shall deem it for the interest of the public so to do, he shall publish the result of such investigation in one or more papers in this state. published. Proceedings upon report. Comptrol ler, when to tificates. $6. Whenever it shall appear to the comptroller, from examination made under his direction, that the assets are not sufficient to insure the outstanding risks of any company incorporated in this state, he shall communicate the fact to the attorney general, whose duty it shall then become to apply to the supreme court for an order requiring them to show cause why the business of such company should not be closed, and the court shall thereon proceed to hear the allegations and proofs of the respective parties; and in case it shall appear to the satisfaction of said court that the assets and funds of the said company are not sufficient as aforesaid, the said court shall decree a dissolution of said company and a distribution of its effects, including the securities deposited in the hands of the comptroller. The supreme court shall have power to refer the application of the attorney general to a referee to inquire and report upon the facts stated therein. $ 7. Whenever it shall appear to the comptroller from the revoke cer- report of the person or persons appointed by him, that the affairs of any foreign company, as aforesaid, are in an unsound condition, he shall revoke all such certificates in behalf of such company, and shall cause a notification thereof to be published in the state paper for four weeks, and the agent of such company is, after such notice, required to discontinue the issuing of any new policy. Manner of closing business. Penalties. S8. When any company transacting the business of life insurance within the state of New York, shall desire to relinquish its business, the comptroller shall, on application of such company or association, under the oath of the president or principal officer, and secretary, give notice of such intention in the state paper at least twice a week, for six months; and after such publication he shall deliver up to such company or association, the securities held by him belonging to them, on being satisfied by the exhibition of the books and papers of such company or association and the examination aforesaid, and upon the oath of the president or principal officer, and secretary of the same, that all debts and liabilities of every kind are paid and extinguished, that are due or may become due upon any contract or agreement, made with any citizen of this state. $9. Every violation of this act 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 company or the agent or agents so violating shall be situated, |