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November 09, 2005 at 07:00 PM
Go page 46 with Regulation banner, jump to page 49. 158 lines
The American Council of Life Insurers will introduce several new proposals geared at advancing a principles-based reserving system during the winter meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in Chicago.
Other issues include how market conduct initiatives that the NAIC developed can be used to reduce the number of market conduct exams not initiated for cause, as well as the relationship of the National Insurance Producer Registry with the NAIC.
During the discussions on principles-based reserving, the ACLI will offer an interim reserve proposal that includes implementation of a revised 2001 CSO mortality table that will be split into preferred underwriting classes, says Paul Graham, ACLI vice president of insurance regulation and chief actuary. Those classes will include 3 non-smoker and 2 smoker classes, he explains. The discussion will take place at the Life & Health Actuarial Task Force of the NAIC.
The new table will bring relief to companies that write term products, Graham says.
In addition, ACLI will propose changes to Actuarial Guideline 38 that reduces a portion of reserving of UL with secondary guarantees, he continues. There would be no impact on term or whole life products with these changes, he adds.
As for the timetable for changes to the CSO Table, he says ACLI is hoping to see is an exposure period that would end with advancement through the NAIC’s LHATF and “A” Life & Annuities Committee in June 2006, followed by a September 2006 adoption by NAIC. This timetable, he explains, would make it possible for the changes to be brought before state legislatures for the 2007 legislative calendar.
The proposed changes to AG 38 are now completely supported by ACLI members, according to Graham. This differs from the previous discussion on AG 38 which did not have consensus, he continues.
The changes being advanced by ACLI have been examined to make sure there are no tax issues, Graham says. That does not mean tax issues might not come up in other proposals and discussions being advanced, he says, but ACLI plans to hold discussions with the Treasury department in 2006 to address any tax issues that do arise.
Dave Neve, co-chair of the universal life working group of the American Academy of Actuaries, Washington, will present the Academy’s final work product during the LHATF meeting on Dec. 1. Neve says the work will be presented in the form of a model regulation and 3 actuarial guidelines. The essence of the work is the same as in previous versions the Academy has been working on over the past year, he says.
Neve says the draft to be discussed in Chicago expands the scope of a principles-based solution to all individual life insurance products. The expansion follows a discussion with regulators prior to work on a revision, he explains.
Another point that will be discussed, he continues, is including the work under an actuarial standard of practice rather than as a regulation or an actuarial guideline.
The reason, Neve says, is that a principles-based approach will rest on the fundamental judgment of actuaries.
