Florida Statutes Title XXXVII. Insurance § 628.705. Prohibition of stock transfers

(1) The voting shares of the capital stock of a subsidiary insurance company, which are required by this part in order to maintain a majority of the voting shares, are to be at all times owned by a mutual insurance holding company or one or more intermediate holding companies and the voting shares of the capital stock of any intermediate holding company, which are necessary to satisfy such ownership requirement through indirect ownership, shall not be conveyed, transferred, assigned, pledged, subjected to a security interest or lien, encumbered, or otherwise hypothecated or alienated by the mutual insurance holding company or any intermediate holding company. Any conveyance, transfer, assignment, pledge, security interest, lien, encumbrance, or hypothecation or alienation of, in, or on such voting shares of capital stock is in violation of this section and shall be void in inverse chronological order of the date of such conveyance, transfer, assignment, pledge, security interest, lien, encumbrance, or hypothecation or alienation, as to such shares of capital stock. The shares of the capital stock of the surviving or new company resulting from a merger or consolidation of two or more subsidiary insurance companies or two or more intermediate holding companies which were subsidiaries of the same mutual insurance holding company are subject to the same requirements, restrictions, and limitations as provided in this section to which the shares of the merging or consolidating former mutual reorganized insurance companies or intermediate holding companies were subject by this section prior to the merger or consolidation.

(2) Voting shares of the capital stock of a subsidiary insurance company or the intermediate holding company may not be acquired by any affiliated member of the holding company system except where the affiliated member of the mutual holding company system is the majority shareholder. A number of shares equal to 5 percent of the outstanding voting shares of the capital stock of one corporate member of the Mutual Insurance Holding Company System selected by the mutual insurance holding company may be issued or sold to directors and officers as part of a plan of compensation, and such shares shall not be considered part of the majority shares to be owned by the mutual insurance company under subsection (1). A number of shares equal to an additional 5 percent of the outstanding voting shares of the capital stock of one corporate member of the Mutual Insurance Holding Company System selected by the mutual insurance holding company may be issued or sold to employees, which may not include any officer or director, as part of an employee stock dividend or benefit plan, and such shares shall not be considered part of the majority shares to be owned by the mutual insurance company under subsection (1). Prior to issuance of shares in excess of the authorized 5 percent to either officers and directors or employees, pursuant to this section, a fairness opinion shall be rendered by an independent authority acceptable to the office to assure that the long term interests of the shareholders and policyholders are adequately protected. The office shall approve or disapprove the transaction within 30 days after receipt of the fairness opinion. Nothing in this section prohibits any officer or director from purchasing shares of stock at market value which are not part of a plan of compensation, in accordance with the requirements of s. 628.461, and, if such stock is not regularly traded on a national stock exchange, the officer or director purchasing the shares of stock is responsible for establishing its market value.