The Standard Formula Podcast | The SFCR and Other Public Reporting: A Solvency II Cornerstone
Mad Dogs and Panameños!
The Wonder Years - Rediscovering the Magic of Split Dollar Life Insurance
On Demand Insurance is Here But Will it Stay?
On July 1, 2024, pursuant to congressional mandate, the SEC adopted a new registration framework for registered index-linked annuities (RILAs). In addition, the SEC has extended the ambit of this framework to include...more
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
Worried that the cards may be stacked against certain consumers and producers, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) released a circular letter and filing guidance note on July 17 to remind insurers of their...more
Idaho and North Dakota have adopted wholesale the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) model suitability standard. Ohio also finalized its proposed rule adopting the NAIC model rule...more
The Cayman International Reinsurance Companies Association (CIRCA) was founded earlier this year to promote the interests of commercial reinsurers in the Cayman Islands and to work collaboratively with all stakeholders in the...more
As the year of COVID-19 closes, NAIC groups are adopting their charges for 2021. Especially notable are the following: LATF’s Indexed Universal Life Illustration Subgroup will: This group will finalize its white paper on...more
It looks as if 2021 will be a busy year as states move to implement the NAIC 2020 revisions to the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (Model 275), or other duty of care measures. The below chart outlines the...more
When last we left the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB), the board was considering comments on the first exposure draft of proposed changes to Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 2 (ASOP 2), now titled “Nonguaranteed Elements...more
The NAIC Virtual Summer National Meeting marked that it is time to get back to school for a number of annuity and life disclosure and illustration initiatives. Both regulators and insurers will need to sharpen their pencils...more
In June, the IRS issued two private letter rulings (PLRs) dealing with fee-based annuities. The facts of these two PLRs are generally identical to the facts of 17 PLRs issued by the IRS last November, with one important...more
The NAIC and the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (“Compact”) are cooking up various initiatives that will impact life and annuity issuers. Below is the spread of the different issues....more
Legislation proposed as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive budget for 2021 would substantially expand the enforcement powers of the superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as the...more
On February 13, 2020, the NAIC Executive Committee adopted revisions to the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275) (Revised Suitability Model), which incorporates a best interest standard of conduct for...more
Life insurers bid farewell to a fairly moderate year of class action litigation. Although several class actions were filed against life insurers in the last quarter of 2019, the filings were reflective of the litigation...more
On December 30, 2019, the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee approved a revised Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (Revised Suitability Model), ending a flurry of activity over the past year....more
Arizona jumped out front of the pack with the introduction of Senate Bill No. 1557, titled "Annuity Transactions; Requirements," which would amend Arizona's suitability requirements for annuity transactions. Senate Bill No....more
Like a game of whack-a-mole, new or existing NAIC groups are being tasked to consider the various regulatory issues that are popping up from insurance innovation....more
Actuaries and Insurers Take Note - The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) has exposed for comment significant proposed changes to Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 2, “Nonguaranteed Charges or Benefits for Life Insurance...more
The NAIC and states are reviewing whether to flush those provisions of state anti-rebating laws that inhibit innovation in the insurance industry. The NAIC Unfair Trade Practices Act (#880) prohibits offering any premium...more
The High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England & Wales refused to sanction a scheme proposed by Prudential Assurance Co. and Rothesay Life PLC to transfer approximately 370,000 annuity policies from...more
With M&A activity for life insurers or blocks of in-force business poised for a possible spike, acquirers of life businesses should consider factors that are peculiar to, or disproportionately affect, the life and annuity...more
The NAIC Annuity Suitability Working Group (Suitability WG) spent the summer at the July 23, July 29, and August 3 Suitability WG meetings trying to get out of the parking lot and discussed several issues to frame up the...more
At the NAIC Fall 2018 National Meeting, various groups within the NAIC discussed a cornucopia of topics that impact the life and annuity industry. ...more
Recent challenges filed by trade associations representing insurance agents in the state of New York seek to overturn the amendment of Regulation 187, which will impose a “best interest” standard on life insurance agents in...more
For many years, insurance company issuers of non-variable products that are registered with the SEC on Forms S-1 or S-3 have been required to disclose compensation information about highly-compensated executive officers of...more