In the National Underwriter, Arthur D. Postal writes that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) have jumped into the fray regarding Rule 151A. The rule was enacted by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) last December; it seeks to regulate equity indexed annuities as securities. The two regulatory groups have sued in the U.S. Court of Appeals to block the rule from taking effect in early 2011.
A coalition of insurers that sell equity indexed annuities has already filed a lawsuit, which will likely be combined with this new suit. Although that industry coalition wants a decision as soon as possible and has filed for expedited review, Arthur says that this development will probably delay the court’s decision.
Insurers are allowed to continue selling equity-indexed annuity products under current state regulations until January 12, 2011.
