Annuity suitability regulations could come to mirror the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, an industry official said Tuesday.

An NAIC committee is looking at whether annuity suitability rules in the states should be adjusted in light of the best interest standard---and whether that makes sense, Ted Nickel, president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), said at an Insured Retirement Institute conference in Washington, D.C. 

The association's commissioners are looking at breaking down rules that inhibit innovation, he said.

“We’re excited about the next generation of long-term-care products,” he said.

On another issue Nickel said NAIC is close to coming out with a model cybersecurity act.

“We’ve got a draft people are pretty close to agreeing to,” said Nickel, who is Wisconsin's insurance commissioner.

Nickel was immediately followed at the session by Joe Borg, president-elect of the North American Securities Administrators Association, who said a lot more cybersecurity cooperation is coming between federal and state regulators and insurance and securities overseers.

Borg said it is important for the regulators to recognize that cybersecurity protections that may be appropriate for large investment advisory firms may not be for smaller operations.

Likewise, he said there needs to be an appreciation for the cybersecurity differences in the business models of companies in the insurance and securities industries.

He warned the annuities industry attendees that insurance sales people can cross the line in promoting life insurance and violate the law.

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