New York State Implements Best-Interest Standard for Annuity Sales
August 6, 2019 by Bernice Napach
Months before any action is expected on a proposed New York State fiduciary rule for investment professionals, the state has implemented new rules that require broker-dealers selling annuities to operate in the best interest of their clients.
The new rule, known as Amended Regulation 187, requires that broker-dealers licensed to sell insurance products in the Empire State as well as insurance agents and insurance brokers — all known as “producers” in the rule — consider only the interests of a consumer when recommending an annuity and not be influenced by financial compensation or incentives. The rule took effect Aug. 1 for annuity sales, and will apply to life insurance sales on Feb. 1, 2020.
It requires that the producers base their recommendations for the purchase of an annuity “on an evaluation of the relevant suitability information of the consumer,” and that the consumer be informed of how the producer is compensated for the sale and servicing of the policy as well as “various features of the policy” and the potential consequences of the sales transaction, both favorable and unfavorable. Difference in features among fee-based and commission-based versions of the policy must also be disclosed.
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