This week the North Dakota House Industry, Business and Labor Committee unanimously approved H.B. 1160, a bill that tracks with the “best interest of consumer enhancements” in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation.

NAIFA cosigned a coalition statement to lawmakers in support of the bill. The adoption of the Model Regulation across all states is a top legislative priority for NAIFA, which helped craft the amendments at the NAIC over the past couple of years. During this time, NAIFA worked with various stakeholders at the NAIC to develop a standard of care for annuity recommendations that would provide consumer confidence in guaranteed income products. This was also designed to thwart efforts by regulators and some advocates to write rules that would have made it much more difficult for insurance and financial professionals to serve the retirement planning needs of lower and middle-income consumers. NAIFA also worked with the NAIC to ensure the model is uniform and consistent with other federal and state standard of care rules.

“NAIFA is glad to see H.B. 1160 move through the North Dakota legislature,” said Julie Harrison, NAIFA State Chapter Director. “The Model Reg aligns well with the SEC’s Regulation BI which gets us to our goal of a harmonized standard of care for annuities across regulatory platforms.”

Five states -- Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan and Rhode Island -- have already adopted the Model Regulation.

NAIFA and NAIFA-ND will work together, alongside our coalition partners to continue to advocate for the bill as it makes its way through the legislature.