I
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2733
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2009
Mr. Meeks of New York (for himself, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Paul, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Clay, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Latham, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Sessions, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Driehaus, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Kind, Mr. Wilson of Ohio, Ms. Jenkins, Mr. Culberson, Mr. Welch, and Ms. Fudge) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To clarify the exemption for certain annuity contracts and insurance policies from Federal regulation under the Securities Act of 1933.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Fixed Indexed Annuities and Insurance
Products Classification Act of 2009
.
Findings and purpose
Findings
The Congress makes the following findings:
Primary jurisdiction for regulating life insurance and annuities is vested with the States and Territories of the United States and the District of Columbia.
Indexed insurance and annuity products offered by insurance companies are subject to a wide array of laws and regulations enforced by States and applicable jurisdictions, including nonforfeiture requirements that provide for minimum guaranteed values, thereby protecting consumers against market related losses.
Adoption of Rule
151A by the Securities and Exchange Commission, entitled Indexed
Annuities and Certain Other Insurance Products
, 74 Fed. Reg. 3138
(January 16, 2009), interferes with State insurance regulation, harms the
insurance industry, reduces competition, restricts consumer choice, creates
unnecessary and excessive regulatory burdens, and diverts Commission resources,
all of which outweighs any perceived benefits.
Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to nullify rule 151A and clarify the scope of the exemption for annuities and insurance contracts from Federal regulation under the Securities Act of 1933.
Scope of exemption from federal securities regulation
Section 3(a)(8) of the Securities Act of
1933 (15 U.S.C. 77c (a)(8)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the
following: , and any insurance or endowment policy or annuity contract
or optional annuity contract (A) the value of which does not vary according to
the performance of a separate account, and (B) which satisfies standard
nonforfeiture laws or similar requirements of the applicable State, Territory,
or District of Columbia at time of issue, or in the absence of applicable
standard nonforfeiture laws or requirements, satisfies the Model Standard
Nonforfeiture Law for Life Insurance or Model Standard Nonforfeiture Law for
Individual Deferred Annuities, or any successor model law, as published by the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
.
Nullification of certain Federal securities regulations
Rule 151A promulgated by the Securities and
Exchange Commission and entitled Indexed Annuities and Certain Other
Insurance Contracts
, 74 Fed. Reg. 3138 (January 16, 2009), shall have
no force or effect.