On February 13, 2020, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in ‎Executive/Plenary session passed sweeping changes to its Suitability in Annuity Transactions ‎Model Regulation (#275), potentially greatly affecting the relationship between insurers, ‎producers, and annuity consumers.‎
Read More NAIC Overwhelmingly Approves Enhancements to Annuity Suitability Model Regulation

The insurance industry experienced significant and varied forms of new legislation and regulation during the last decade. Below, we highlight what we view as the top 10 of these legal and regulatory changes.
Read More Top 10 Insurance Laws And Regulations Of The Decade

One substantial area of ambiguity that permeates the surplus lines industry throughout the United States relates to the applicability of state law to surplus lines insurance carriers and brokers. This week, the Excess Line Association of New York (“ELANY”) published its “Compliance Advisor” intending, in part, to shed light on applicability of various New York statutes and regulations to the excess (surplus) lines market.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 21): Excess Line Association of New York Publishes “Compliance Advisor” Detailing Applicability of Various Laws to Excess (Surplus) Lines Market

On January 9 from noon-1:00 p.m. CT, Locke Lord LLP and Novarica will look at new regulatory developments in analytics, use of data, and data security that have the potential to affect insurer technology strategy. This webinar covers the similarities and differences between NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation and NAIC Data Security Model Law, the recent updates to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, and the potential innovation opportunities and limitations surrounding insurance regulatory sandboxes.
Read More Webinar: Insurance IT Strategy and Regulatory Compliance–NYDFS, NAIC and CCPA

Following comments by interested parties, including the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) and the Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY), at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Fall National Meeting in Austin, Texas, the Surplus Lines Task Force tabled its new Blanks proposal regarding home state direct premium written.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 20): UPDATE: NAIC Surplus Lines Task Force Tables Blanks Proposal for Home State Direct Premiums Written

Locke Lord corporate and regulatory insurance Partners Brian Casey and Ben Sykes will host an open organizational conference call for insurtechs and those interested in how insurtechs will be regulated going forward. The goal is to present a united voice for addressing the regulatory and legal challenges related to the adoption of new technologies-driven changes precipitated by insurtech businesses challenging and reforming insurance products, underwriting, distribution and claims models.
Read More Open Teleconference for the formation of InsurTech America, a coalition available to U.S.-based and non U.S.-based Insurtech companies transacting business in the U.S.

On November 26th, Maine issued Bulletin 439 (the “Bulletin”) which provides, in granular detail, the criteria for placing insurance through the surplus lines market in the state. The Bulletin has received immediate and substantial attention within the surplus lines industry both for its thoroughness as well as its deviation, in some respects, from the expectations of other states.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 19): Bulletin Issued Detailing Robust Surplus Lines Standards in Maine

Coinciding with a plan to consider and evaluate alternative approaches to implementing an Insurance Capital Standard (ICS), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), during its November annual meeting, finalized a Holistic Framework for Systemic Risk in the Insurance Sector to be implemented in 2020.
Read More Global Insurance Supervisors Take Another Step Forward

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) published a bulletin on November 8 ‎regarding the California Department of Insurance (“CID”) issued legal opinion, which concluded that ‎the cancellation and non-renewal provisions under California Insurance Code (“CIC”) sections 677 and ‎‎678 apply to insurance policies written on risks located or resident in California by non-admitted ‎‎(surplus line) insurers that insure any of the contingencies specific in CIC section 675 (the “Opinion”).‎
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 18): Surplus Lines Compliance – Does it Apply or Not?

Team USA (collectively the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), and the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the U.S. Treasury) achieved a major U.S. regulatory objective at the current 2019 Annual Meeting of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) regarding next steps and planned monitoring process for the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) project.
Read More U.S. Insurance Regulators Achieve Positive Progress on Insurance Capital Standards