The New York chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) has reached an agreement with Greenberg Traurig under which the firm will represent the advocacy interests of NAIFA-New York with state legislators and regulators. Greenberg Traurig is a global law firm with offices around the country, including in Albany and New York City.

Christopher L. Gandy, a member of the 2021 National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) Board of Trustees and the president of NAIFA’s Chicagoland chapter, spoke on behalf of NAIFA at a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) meeting of the NAIC’s Special Committee on Race and Insurance.

NAIFA is proud to announce that it has renewed its participation as a member of the Industry Education Council (IEC), the educational partner of the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL). The IEC provides effective communication with state legislators, and vital support for NCOIL’s educational programs.

Insurance and financial professionals provide a powerful advocacy voice at state and federal levels.

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.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June began requiring broker-dealers to submit detailed information on securities trades to the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) database. A similar requirement for options trades went into effect in July. The purpose of the CAT is to allow SEC regulators to identify and analyze irregularities and threats to the securities markets.

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.

NAIFA will celebrate its 130th anniversary Thursday, June 19, with an online Town Hall meeting “The State of NAIFA on Our 130th Anniversary Celebration.”

Julie Harrison, NAIFA's Director of State Chapter Government Relations, has been named to the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) Board of Directors.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux issued the following statement on congressional passage of the latest $484 billion COVID-19 relief legislation.