1454                               Laws of Maryland                        [Ch. 680

association or its certificate of incorporation and of its bylaws, rules,
and regulations governing the conduct of its business (ii) a list of
its members and subscribers, (iii) the name and address of a resident
of this State upon whom notices or orders of the Commissioner or
process affecting the rating organization may be served and (iv) a
statement of its' qualifications as a rating organization. If the Com-
missioner finds that the applicant is competent, trustworthy, and
otherwise qualified to act as a rating organization and that its con-
stitution, articles of agreement or association or certificate of incor-
poration, and its bylaws, rules and regulations governing the conduct
of its business, conform to the requirements of law, he shall grant or
deny the application in whole or in part, within sixty days of the
filing date. Licenses issued pursuant to this subsection shall remain
in effect for three years unless sooner suspended or revoked by the
Commissioner. The fee for the license shall be twenty-five dollars.
Licenses issued pursuant to this subsection may be suspended or
revoked by the Commissioner after hearing upon notice, if the rating
organization ceases to meet the requirements of this paragraph.
Every rating organization shall notify the Commissioner promptly
of every change in (i) its constitution, its articles of agreement or
association, or its certificate of incorporation, and its bylaws, rules
and regulations governing the conduct of its business, (ii) its list of
members and subscribers and (iii) the name and address of the
resident of this State designated by it upon whom notices or orders
of the Commissioner or process affecting the rating organization
may be served.

(2)    Subject to rules and regulations which have been approved
by the Commissioner as reasonable, each rating organization shall
permit any insurer, not a member, to be a subscriber to its rating
services for any kind of insurance, subdivision, or class of risk or a
part or combination thereof for which it is authorized to act as a
rating organization. Notice of proposed changes in the rules and
regulations shall be given to subscribers. Each rating organization
shall furnish its rating services without discrimination to its mem-
bers and subscribers. The reasonableness of any rule or regulation
in its application to subscribers, or the refusal of any rating organ-
ization to admit an insurer as a subscriber, at the request of any
subscriber or any such insurer, shall be reviewed by the Commis-
sioner at a hearing held upon at least ten days' written notice to the
rating organization and to the insurer. If the Commissioner finds
that the rule or regulation is unreasonable in its application to sub-
scribers, he shall order that the rule or regulation shall not be appli-
cable to subscribers. If the rating organization fails to grant or
reject an insurer's application for subscribership within thirty days
after it was made the insurer may request a review by the Commis-
sioner as if the application had been rejected. If the Commissioner
finds that the insurer has been refused admittance to the rating
organization as a subscriber without justification, he shall order the
rating organization to admit the insurer as a subscriber. If he finds
that the action of the rating organization was justified, he shall
make an order affirming its action.

(3)    No rating organization shall adopt any rule the effect of
which would be to prohibit or regulate the payment of dividends,
savings or unabsorbed premium deposits allowed or returned by
insurers to their policyholders, members, or subscribers.