[§431E-45]  Immunity from liability.  (a) No civil liability shall be imposed on and no cause of action shall arise froma person's furnishing information concerning suspected, anticipated, orcompleted fraudulent life settlement acts or suspected or completed fraudulentinsurance acts, if the information is provided to or received from:

(1)  The commissioner or the commissioner's employees,agents or representatives;

(2)  Federal, state, or local law enforcement orregulatory officials or their employees, agents, or representatives;

(3)  A person involved in the prevention and detectionof fraudulent life settlement acts or that person's agents, employees, orrepresentatives;

(4)  Any regulatory body or their employees, agents,or representatives, overseeing life insurance, life settlements, securities, orinvestment fraud;

(5)  The life insurer that issued the policy coveringthe life of the insured; or

(6)  The licensee and any agents, employees, orrepresentatives.

(b)  Subsection (a) shall not apply tostatements made with actual malice.  In an action brought against a person forfiling a report or furnishing other information concerning a fraudulent lifesettlement act or a fraudulent insurance act, the party bringing the actionshall plead specifically any allegation that subsection (a) does not applybecause the person filing the report or furnishing the information did so withactual malice.

(c)  A person identified in subsection (a)shall be entitled to an award of attorney's fees and costs if the person is theprevailing party in a civil cause of action for libel, slander, or any otherrelevant tort arising out of activities in carrying out the provisions of thischapter and the party bringing the action was not substantially justified indoing so. For purposes of this section, a proceeding is "substantiallyjustified" if it had a reasonable basis in law or fact at the time that itwas initiated.

(d)  This section does not abrogate or modifycommon law or statutory privileges or immunities enjoyed by a person describedin subsection (a). [L 2008, c 177, pt of §1]