Ito v. Investors Equity Life Holding Company.

Opinion of the Court by

NAKAYAMA, J.

I. INTRODUCTION

Investors Equity Life Holding Company (IELHC) is the former parent company and sole shareholder of Investors Equity Life Insurance Company of Hawaii, Ltd. (IEL). In 1994 IEL was liquidated, thus creating the IEL estate. The State of Hawai'i Insurance Commissioner (Commissioner) was appointed as IEL’s liquidator (Liquidator). This case concerns the Liquidator’s denial of IELHC’s purported claim to all remaining assets of the IEL estate.

In 1996, IELHC surrendered all of its shares in IEL to the Commissioner as part of a settlement agreement to…