Code of Maine Rules
02 - DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATION
031 - BUREAU OF INSURANCE
Chapter 235 - ANNUAL AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORTS
Section 031-235-12 - CPA Work Papers and Audit Communications
Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024
A. The accountant shall preserve all work papers prepared in the conduct of the accountant's examination and make them available for review and copying by Bureau of Insurance examiners in accordance with the requirements of this Section and, as applicable, the requirements of 24 M.R.S.A. §2307(3), 24-A M.R.S.A. §414(5)24-A or M.R.S.A. §4233(2). The accountant and the insurer shall in like manner preserve and make available any communications related to the audit between the accountant and the insurer. If the work papers or audit communications are maintained in electronic form, the Superintendent may make electronic copies.
B. Work papers include all records kept by the independent certified public accountant of the procedures followed, the tests performed, the information obtained, and the conclusions reached pertinent to the accountant's examination of the financial statements of an insurer. Work papers may include, but are not limited to, audit planning documentation, work programs, analyses, reconciliations, abstracts, narratives, flow charts, memoranda, letters of confirmation and representation, copies or abstracts of company documents and schedules, and commentaries prepared or obtained by the independent certified public accountant and the accountant's employees in connection with the accountant's examination of the financial statements of an insurer.
C. The Superintendent may have access to work papers and audit communications pursuant to this Section at the offices of the insurer, at the offices of the Bureau of Insurance, or at any other reasonable place designated by the Superintendent.
D. The audit work papers and communications shall be retained for at least six years after the audit report is filed. If no examination report covering the period of the audit has been filed in the Bureau of Insurance pursuant to 24-A M.R.S.A. §226(3), the Superintendent, upon timely notice to the accountant or the insurer, as applicable, shall extend the retention period to seven years, or until the examination report has been filed, whichever is sooner.
E. All documents obtained or copied by the Superintendent in accordance with this Section are examination working papers within the meaning of 24-A M.R.S.A. §225(3), and the Superintendent shall protect their confidentiality accordingly.