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.

NAIFA has announced the creation of the NAIFA Family Response Fund to help NAIFA members with expenses related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The fund will benefit NAIFA members and their legal dependents who face financial hardship due to unexpected out-of-pocket medical or funeral expenses related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux, along with several industry colleagues, has sent a letter to every state insurance licensing authority requesting temporary licensing accommodations for producers who cannot complete regular licensing requirements because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Measures on small business loans, payroll taxes, and retirement accounts to provide relief to financial professionals and their clients.

Congress has passed the CARES Act, a $2 trillion economic stimulus and relief package designed to bolster Americans and the U.S. economy currently racked by the COVID-19 outbreak. The bill now goes to the White House, where President Trump is expected to sign it.

“NAIFA has advocated for measures to help small business owners and American workers weather the devastating financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are pleased to see many of the provisions we promoted included in the CARES Act,” said NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux. “Small business loans to cover short-term payroll and other expenses, which could be forgiven at a future date; payroll tax exemptions; and relief from retirement-account withdrawal requirements and early withdrawal penalties have been at the top of NAIFA’s advocacy agenda and will be crucial to many NAIFA members and their Main Street USA clients. We are very pleased to see these provisions included in the final bill.”