SUMMARY

Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the bill amend the Charitable Solicitations Act to exempt federally and state-chartered financial institutions and credit unions that are subject to supervision and examination by their respective chartering authorities.

Section 5 of the bill permits mutual property and casualty insurance companies in Maine to adopt a mutual holding company structure. This bill is necessary because of a provision of the federal Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. Unless a state's laws authorize mutual insurers to transfer their domicile to another state and reorganize as a stock insurance company owned by a mutual holding company, the federal law preempts state insurance laws for this type of reorganization. Maine law does not currently authorize that kind of reorganization. By establishing law to allow mutual property and casualty insurers to reorganize, this bill ends the federal preemption and provides flexibility to mutual property and casualty insurers organized in Maine and does so under terms that fairly protect the interests of policyholders in those companies.