A bipartisan bill to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a new form for annuity issuers to use when filing registered index-linked annuities has been reintroduced in the House.
Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) reintroduced the Registration for Index Linked Annuities Act on July 30.
Under current SEC rules, registered index-linked annuities and other new products must be registered using forms designed primarily for equity offerings and therefore require extensive information that is not relevant to prospective annuity purchasers. These forms also require disclosure of financial information prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, which many insurers are not otherwise required to produce.
The bill is aimed at addressing the misalignment between the current registration forms used for registered index-linked annuities and the information needed by investors who might benefit from purchasing these products. NAIFA supports this legislation to ease an unnecessary burden on financial professionals and their clients and encourage product innovation to give consumers more choices.
The Registration for Index Linked Annuities Act was last introduced in May 2020 during the previous congressional session.