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SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS MADE
DURING TWO-DAY COMPACT MEETING
Commission Members, State Legislators,
Industry and Consumer Representatives
Make Significant Progress at Annual
Meeting
LANSDOWNE, Va. (Nov. 17, 2006) – At the inaugural annual meeting of the
Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission
(“Commission”) held in Lansdowne, Virginia on November 15 -16,
2006, the Commission continued to make significant progress in implementing
a central point of filing and review for asset-based insurance
products. Twenty-seven compacting
states participated in the annual meeting, with twenty-two Commissioners in
attendance.
The Commission formed the permanent Management Committee
and elected Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken as Chair, West
Virginia Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline as Vice-Chair, and Minnesota
Department of Commerce Commissioner Glenn Wilson as Treasurer. The Commission also announced the
selection of Frances Arricale as Executive Director, effective December 1.
In addition, the Commission welcomed State Senator
Delores Kelley (D-MD) and State Representative Brian Patrick Kenney (D-RI),
two of the members of the permanent Legislative Committee. The Commission
committed to quickly forming the advisory committees under the Bylaws and
to soliciting applications for the eight-member consumer advisory
committee. A productive discussion
took place on a number of matters including an overview of the System for
Electronic Rate & Form Filing (SERFF) and potential enhancements, a
proposed fee structure, budget items for 2007 and the proposed services
agreement with the NAIC.
The Commission held public hearings to receive comments
on the draft Public Access Rule and the five draft Adjustable Life Uniform
Product Standards. It heard
comments from representatives from the Commission interim industry and
consumer advisory committees, members of the Legislative Committee as well
as from states that are considering joining the Compact and other industry
representatives and interested parties. The newly-formed Management
Committee voted to approve the Public Access Rule and made amendments to
the uniform product standards. The Public Access Rule will be considered by
the Commission for adoption at its meeting on December 8th and
the Management Committee is expected to take action on the Uniform Product
Standards at its meeting in December.
“I am proud of the many accomplishments over these
past two days and believe the cooperation and dialogue between Commission
members as well as with members of the Legislative Committee and the
advisory committees, was extremely valuable,” said Koken. “With
the high-level of commitment from the Commission members, the goals for the
successful implementation of the Compact are being achieved within the
timeline set by the Commission at its inaugural meeting in June. I want to personally thank everyone
involved in moving this process forward.”
The next meeting of the Management Committee will be
held via conference call on November 28, 2006 at 1:30 PM EST. The next
meeting of the Commission will be on December 8, 2006 at 9:00 AM in San
Antonio, Texas.
About the Commission
Currently, 28 members have joined the Interstate Insurance Product
Regulation Commission. The compacting members are Alaska, Colorado,
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The Commission enables state regulators to develop uniform national
standards for asset protection insurance products, such as life insurance,
annuities, disability income and long-term care insurance. The Commission
establishes a central filing point for these insurance products, enhancing
the speed and efficiency of regulatory decisions and allowing companies to
compete more effectively in the modern financial marketplace while
continuing to provide protection for consumers.
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