We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,155)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (414)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (800)
  • Wink's Articles (353)
  • Wink's Inside Story (274)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • New York State May Set Its Own Best Interest Standard

    December 27, 2017 by Allison Bell

    New York state regulators today proposed adding a best interest standard to the state’s annuity sales standards regulations.

    The state may also apply the annuity sales rules to sales of life insurance.

    Click HERE to read the orginal story via ThinkAdvisor.

    The New York State Department of Financial Services has included those provisions in a new set of proposed amendments to the state’s Suitability in Annuity Transactions regulation.

    Links to several documents related to the proposed amendments are available here.

    Comments on the proposed amendments are due Feb. 12.

    Cuomo vs. Trump

    Officials working under Maria Vullo, the New York State Department of Financial Services superintendent, developed the proposed regulation amendments.

    But Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, is using the proposal as a chance to show his approach to financial services regulation and the Trump administration’s approach.

    “As Washington continues to ignore and roll back efforts to protect Americans, New York will continue to use its role as a strong regulator of the financial services and insurance industries to fight for consumers and help ensure a level playing field,” Cuomo said in a statement included in the press release announcing the proposal. “With these commonsense reforms we are working to protect everyday New Yorkers and give them peace of mind when purchasing these products.”

    DOL Standards Delay

    Under former President Barack Obama, the U.S. Department of Labor developed a fiduciary rule standard for sales of retirement services. The standard requires advice providers to put the clients’ interests first. A best interest standard in the rule defines what it means to put the interests of the clients first.

    When President Donald Trump came into office, his DOL team decided to let the best interest standard take effect, but the team put off applying related regulations, or “prohibited transaction exemptions” (PTEs), that set the procedures retirement services would have used to show they were acting in the clients’ best interest.

    Insurers and annuity distributors have argued that the best interest PTEs are vague, unrealistic, and likely to encourage consumers to file lawsuits.

     

    In most states, annuity sellers now have to abide by a suitability standard.

    Under a suitability standard, an annuity seller must verify that an annuity sold to a client suits the client’s needs.

    Some state insurance regulators have been talking about the possibility of establishing their own best interest standards while the DOL looks at its PTEs. The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has been asking for comments on a proposed model regulation change that would include a best interest standard. States could use an updated NAIC model as an example when writing their own best interest laws and regulations.

    Proposal Details 

    The drafters of the proposed New York state amendments would change the name of the state annuity suitability regulation to the “Suitability in Life Insurance and Annuity Transactions” regulation, and state that “producers must act in a competent and trustworthy manner.”

    The drafters would also:

    • Apply the suitability and best interest standards to fraternal benefit societies. 
    • Require that “best interest” recommendations be based on “an evaluation of the suitability information of the consumer that reflects the care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent person familiar with such matters would use under the circumstances without regard to the financial or other interests of the producer, insurer, or any other party.”
    • Require a producer acting in the best interest of the consumer to “disclose to the consumer all relevant suitability considerations and product information, whether favorable or unfavorable, that provide the basis for any recommendations.”
    • Deny that the regulation itself has any effect on payments to producers, or on the type or amount of compensation producers can receive.
    • Require insurers to establish procedures designed to prevent forgery, embezzlement, and other forms of abuse and exploitation.

    Industry Reaction

    The Life Insurance Council of New York says in statement that it worries about the possibility that the proposal could be unfair to New York’s life insurance companies.

    “Any implemented regulation should be uniform across the country, so companies do not face different standards in different states,” LICONY says. “We would urge the [Department of Financial Services] to proceed in a deliberate manner and work with the industry to ensure that New York’s life insurers are not put at an unfair disadvantage related to other financial services providers, while still protecting consumers.” 

    Originally Posted at ThinkAdvisor on December 27, 2017 by Allison Bell.

    Categories: Industry Articles
    currency