§ 23. Confidentiality of investigation and examination reports
(a) This section shall apply to all persons licensed, authorized, or registered, or required
to be licensed, authorized, or registered by the Commissioner.
(b) Regardless of source, all records of investigations, including information pertaining
to a complaint by or for a consumer, and all records and reports of examinations by
the Commissioner, whether in the possession of a supervisory agency or another person,
shall be confidential and privileged, shall not be made public, and shall not be subject
to discovery or introduction into evidence in any private civil action. No person
who participated on behalf of the Commissioner in an investigation or examination
shall be permitted or required to testify in any such civil action as to any findings,
recommendations, opinions, results, or other actions relating to the investigation
or examination.
(c) The Commissioner may, in the Commissioner’s discretion, disclose or publish or authorize
the disclosure or publication of any such record or report or any part thereof in
the furtherance of legal or regulatory proceedings brought as a part of the Commissioner’s
official duties. The Commissioner may, in the Commissioner’s discretion, disclose
or publish or authorize the disclosure or publication of any such record or report
or any part thereof, to civil or criminal law enforcement authorities for use in the
exercise of such authority’s duties, in such manner as the Commissioner may deem proper.
(d) For the purposes of this section, records of investigations and records and reports
of examinations shall include joint examinations by the Commissioner and any other
supervisory agency. Records of investigations and reports of examinations shall also
include records of examinations and investigations conducted by:
(1) any agency with supervisory jurisdiction over the person; and
(2) any agency of any foreign government with supervisory jurisdiction over any person
subject to the jurisdiction of the Department, when such records are considered confidential
by such agency or foreign government and the records are in the possession of the
Commissioner. (Added 2001, No. 55, § 3, eff. June 12, 2001; amended 2015, No. 63, § 5, eff. June 17, 2015; 2021, No. 25, § 10, eff. May 12, 2021; 2023, No. 32, § 7a, eff. July 1, 2023; 2025, No. 23, § 1, eff. July 1, 2025.)