Maryland’s new Insurance Commissioner, Kathleen Birrane, had an opportunity to introduce herself to the state’s insurance agents and financial advisers on August 25 during a townhall webinar with NAIFA-MD, the Maryland Association of Health Underwriters and Maryland Insurance Agents and Brokers.
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New Maryland Commissioner Looks to Work with Industry on Annuity Suitability Revisions
By NAIFA on 8/26/20 3:37 PM
Topics: State Advocacy Standard of Care & Consumer Protection Annuity Best Interest Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Maryland
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New DOL Rule Provides Important Guidance on How to Illustrate Monthly Lifetime Income
By NAIFA on 8/19/20 4:44 PM
The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued an interim final rule providing the important information employers need to comply with the new requirement that they give retirement plan participants annual illustrations of the monthly lifetime income they would receive from their retirement plan account balances.
Topics: Federal Advocacy DOL Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Producer Sales & Marketing
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NAIFA Members Invited to Signing of Agent Commission Bill in Georgia
By NAIFA on 8/17/20 1:50 PM
NAIFA-GA members were invited to attend Gov. Brian Kemp’s signing of a law requiring health insurance carriers to file commissions rates they offer producers as part of their filings with the state. The law (HB 716) also gives the state Insurance Commission the power to enforce commission rates. The law will help insurance producers impacted by the Medical Loss Ratio provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which has resulted in many carriers reducing or eliminating health insurance agents’ commissions.
Topics: State Advocacy Georgia Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation
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NAIFA Sees DOL Proposal as a Step in the Right Direction, But Offers Improvements
By NAIFA on 8/11/20 10:29 AM
NAIFA President Cammie Scott submitted a comment letter on behalf of NAIFA that generally supports the Department of Labor’s proposed class exemption for investment advice fiduciaries under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code and makes several suggestions to improve the proposal.
Topics: Standard of Care & Consumer Protection Federal Advocacy DOL Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Fiduciary
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DOL Proposes New Rule to Replace Fiduciary Rule NAIFA Helped Defeat
By NAIFA on 6/30/20 10:26 AM
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a new rule to govern the standard of care for producers providing consumers with retirement guidance and products. NAIFA was a part of the lawsuit, along with the American Council of Life Insurers and other groups, that resulted in the DOL’s original fiduciary rule being struck down by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018. The new proposal would create a “best interest” prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for ERISA- and Internal Revenue Code-covered investment advice fiduciaries.
Topics: Standard of Care & Consumer Protection Federal Advocacy DOL Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Fiduciary
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Federal Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Reg BI
By NAIFA on 6/29/20 10:45 AM
In an opinion published last Friday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the validity of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest and rejected the challenge to the rule which had been filed last fall by a group of state attorneys general and several private financial firms. The court did not agree with the plaintiffs’ claim that the Dodd Frank Act required the SEC, if it chose to act, to adopt a standard of conduct for broker-dealers that paralleled the fiduciary standard applicable to investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act.
Topics: Standard of Care & Consumer Protection SEC Federal Advocacy Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Regulation Best Interest Fiduciary
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NAIFA Georgia’s Health Insurance Agent Commission Bill Sails Through the Senate
By NAIFA on 6/29/20 8:57 AM
NAIFA-Georgia is celebrating a win. HB 716 (Insurance; carriers issuing a health benefit plan in this state through an agent shall file proposed commission rates with the department) passed the Senate unanimously on June 26.
Topics: State Advocacy Georgia Compensation Regulation Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation
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NAIFA Backs Ohio’s Suitability in Annuity Trans-actions Proposal Albeit Minor Edits
By Julie Harrison on 6/23/20 5:41 PM
Ohio’s Department of Insurance recently proposed updates to its “3901-6-13 Suitability Annuity Transactions” rule. The state’s Director of Insurance, Jillian Froment, chaired the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s Annuity Suitability Working Group while the working group crafted revisions to the NAIC’s “Suitability In Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275).” As expected, the Ohio proposal is similar to the model. It establishes a new standard of conduct that goes beyond the rule’s current suitability standard, but it is not a fiduciary standard.
Topics: State Advocacy Standard of Care & Consumer Protection Annuity Best Interest Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Ohio
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NAIFA Supports Legislation to Boost Registered Index-Linked Annuities
By NAIFA on 6/11/20 1:02 PM
Registered index-linked annuity (RILA) products offer a good option for some consumers who want to benefit from market growth while reducing their exposure to market losses. These are long-term, tax-deferred investments that are often well-suited for investors who are preparing for retirement, especially those who are retired or are nearing retirement and wish to reduce the impact of market downturns.
Topics: SEC Federal Advocacy Congress Insurance & Financial Advisor Regulation Supported Legislation
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Arizona Annuity Sales Standards Bill Signed Into Law
By Julie Harrison on 6/9/20 2:55 PM
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law SB 1557 on Friday June 5, 2020. The measure will amend the state’s requirements governing annuity recommendations and sales by requiring producers and insurers to act in the best interest of annuity purchasers and to not put their own financial interests ahead of the consumers’ interest. These revisions track amendments made earlier this year by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to the NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation, which aligns well with the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest and will raise the standard of care required of financial professionals while preserving consumers’ access to valuable financial advice, services and products.