doug stolte/david smith co-chairs (va) summary of comments · note powerpoint presentation noted...

34
© 2019 National Association of Insurance Commissioners 1 Date: 5/13/19 Conference Call RESTRUCTURING MECHANISMS (E) SUBGROUP Thursday, May 23, 2019 12:30 p.m. Eastern / 11:30 a.m. Central / 10:30 a.m. Mountain / 9:30 a.m. Pacific / 8:30 a.m. Alaska / 6:30 a.m. Hawaii Call duration: 1.5 hours ROLL CALL Doug Stolte/David Smith, Co-Chairs Virginia Jack Broccoli Vice Chair Rhode Island Mel Anderson Arkansas Kathy Belfi Connecticut Kevin Fry Illinois Fred Andersen Minnesota John Rehagen Missouri Steve Kerner New Jersey Dale Bruggeman Ohio Andy Schallhorn Oklahoma Amy Garcia Texas NAIC Support Staff: Dan Daveline/Robin Marcotte AGENDA 1. Hear comments on charges and the definition of runoff — Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments Attachment A Comment Letters Attachment B Additional Information Attachment C 2. Discuss Any Other Matters Brought Before the Working Group Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\May 23 call\Restructuring Agenda.docx

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Page 1: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

© 2019 National Association of Insurance Commissioners 1

Date: 5/13/19 Conference Call

RESTRUCTURING MECHANISMS (E) SUBGROUP

Thursday, May 23, 2019 12:30 p.m. Eastern / 11:30 a.m. Central / 10:30 a.m. Mountain / 9:30 a.m. Pacific /

8:30 a.m. Alaska / 6:30 a.m. Hawaii Call duration: 1.5 hours

ROLL CALL

Doug Stolte/David Smith, Co-Chairs Virginia Jack Broccoli Vice Chair Rhode Island Mel Anderson Arkansas Kathy Belfi Connecticut Kevin Fry Illinois Fred Andersen Minnesota John Rehagen Missouri Steve Kerner New Jersey Dale Bruggeman Ohio Andy Schallhorn Oklahoma Amy Garcia Texas

NAIC Support Staff: Dan Daveline/Robin Marcotte AGENDA

1. Hear comments on charges and the definition of runoff

— Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments Attachment A Comment Letters Attachment B Additional Information Attachment C

2. Discuss Any Other Matters Brought Before the Working Group

— Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\May 23 call\Restructuring Agenda.docx

Page 2: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process
Page 3: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

1

Res

tru

ctu

rin

g M

ech

anis

ms

(E)

Subg

rou

p

Su

mm

ary

of C

omm

ents

for

May

23,

201

9 C

onfe

ren

ce c

all

Ref

eren

ce

Nu

mb

er

Des

crip

tion

Com

men

t # 1

– C

onne

ctic

ut

Atta

chm

ent B

P

age

3

Fir

st, I

thin

k ch

arge

1 a

nd 2

are

ver

y br

oad

and

regu

lato

rs c

an c

ome

up w

ith g

ood

best

pra

ctic

es b

ased

on

expe

rien

ce.

Cha

rge

#3-

we

shou

ld w

ait f

or

the

pare

nt g

roup

for

cle

arer

gui

danc

e be

caus

e it

appe

ars

that

the

char

ges

over

lap.

My

com

men

ts a

re b

ased

on

char

ges

1 an

d 2

at th

is p

oint

. A

s liq

uidi

ty i

s m

any

tim

es t

he h

ighe

st r

isk

com

pani

es f

ace

(and

reg

ulat

or’s

whe

n fa

ced

with

div

iden

d re

ques

ts)

the

cre

atio

n of

a “

best

pra

ctic

es”

liqu

idit

y re

port

can

be

crea

ted

for

regu

lato

rs to

use

if th

ey c

hoos

e to

. T

his

help

s to

cre

ate

cont

inui

ty a

roun

d liq

uidi

ty c

onsi

dera

tions

; M

onito

r ex

pens

es-

i.e

. as

com

pani

es c

ontin

ue t

o st

rive

to

decr

ease

cla

ims

and

adm

inis

trat

ive

expe

nses

- h

ow d

oes

it a

ffec

t ke

y pe

rson

nel

and

poss

ible

ou

tsou

rcin

g?

Thi

s te

nds

to

crea

te

new

op

erat

iona

l ri

sks-

W

hat

is

the

com

pany

w

illin

g to

gi

ve

up

in

orde

r to

in

crea

se

liqui

dity

? (

Cos

t/ben

efits

sho

uld

be a

naly

zed)

. P

rovi

de th

e re

gula

tor

a lis

t of

all p

ledg

ed a

sset

s an

d po

ssib

le c

oven

ant t

rigg

ers.

C

ash

flow

ana

lysi

s th

roug

h cl

aim

pay

out p

erio

d.

Aga

in,

very

hig

h le

vel.

I t

hink

thi

s w

ill b

e th

e ea

sy p

art

and

will

nee

d di

rect

ion

from

WG

aft

er t

hey

have

sor

ted

thro

ugh

the

mac

ro i

ssue

s.

Com

men

t # 2

– M

aine

A

ttac

hmen

t B

Pag

e 4

G

ener

ally

, loo

ks g

ood,

but

as

we’

re s

eein

g in

the

lon

g-te

rm-c

are

aren

a, s

ome

runo

ff c

ompa

nies

are

stil

l co

llect

ing

prem

ium

and

reg

ulat

ors

still

nee

d to

dea

l w

ith t

he r

esul

ting

ratin

g is

sues

, an

d ot

her

actu

aria

l co

mpl

icat

ions

rel

atin

g to

est

imat

ed p

rem

ium

col

lect

ions

. A

lso,

the

fin

anci

al s

urve

illan

ce

tool

s fo

r ru

noff

com

pani

es m

ight

als

o ha

ve a

pplic

atio

n to

blo

cks

of le

gacy

bus

ines

s in

goi

ng-c

once

rn c

ompa

nies

(an

d th

ose

bloc

ks a

re o

ften

sub

ject

to

or u

nder

con

side

ratio

n fo

r re

stru

ctur

ing)

. So,

I w

ould

con

side

r ch

angi

ng C

harg

e #

1 to

:

1. C

onsi

der

the

deve

lopm

ent

of f

inan

cial

sur

veill

ance

too

ls t

hat

are

spec

ific

ally

des

igne

d fo

r co

mpa

nies

in

runo

ff (

com

pani

es t

hat

are

no

lo

nger

act

ivel

y w

ritin

g in

sura

nce

busi

ness

) an

d co

mpa

nies

with

larg

e bl

ocks

of

runo

ff b

usin

ess.

Com

men

t # 3

– S

outh

Car

olin

a

Att

achm

ent B

P

age

5

O

n be

half

of

Dir

ecto

r R

aym

ond

Far

mer

, Sou

th C

arol

ina

has

no e

dits

or

chan

ges

to p

ropo

sed

char

ges

for

the

Res

truc

turi

ng W

orki

ng G

roup

.

Page 4: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

2

Com

men

t # 4

– T

exas

A

ttac

hmen

t B

Pag

e 6

P

leas

e ac

cept

the

Tex

as D

epar

tmen

t of

Ins

uran

ce c

omm

ents

for

the

Res

truc

turi

ng M

echa

nism

exp

osur

e. T

exas

sug

gest

s th

e fo

llow

ing

edits

to

the

defi

nitio

n of

run

-off

: Run

off

com

pani

es a

re n

o lo

nger

act

ivel

y w

ritin

g in

sura

nce

busi

ness

or

colle

ctin

g pr

emiu

ms

exce

pt w

here

req

uire

d to

by

law

or

cont

ract

, and

hav

e un

paid

pol

icyh

olde

r li

abil

itie

s.

Com

men

t # 5

– V

erm

ont

Att

achm

ent B

P

age

7

R

egar

ding

the

defi

nitio

n of

run

-off

insu

rer,

her

e ar

e a

coup

le o

f po

ssib

ilit

ies

that

mig

ht b

e a

usef

ul s

tart

ing

poin

t:

1)

In th

e ca

ptiv

e co

ntex

t, a

“run

-off

cap

tive

insu

rer”

mig

ht b

e de

fine

d as

“a

capt

ive

insu

rer

that

has

not

und

erw

ritte

n in

sura

nce

or r

eins

uran

ce

for

at le

ast f

ive

year

s;”

and

2)

In th

e ca

se o

f V

erm

ont’

s L

egac

y In

sura

nce

Man

agem

ent A

ct, w

hile

it d

oes

not d

efin

e “r

un-o

ff c

ompa

nies

,” it

doe

s de

fine

“cl

osed

blo

cks”

th

at c

an b

e tr

ansf

erre

d/as

sum

ed, a

s fo

llow

s:

“C

lose

d bl

ock’

mea

ns a

blo

ck, l

ine,

or

grou

p of

com

mer

cial

non

-adm

itted

insu

ranc

e po

licie

s or

rei

nsur

ance

agr

eem

ents

or

both

:

(A)

whi

ch a

tran

sfer

ring

insu

rer

has

ceas

ed to

off

er, w

rite

, or

sell

to n

ew a

pplic

ants

;

(B)

for

whi

ch a

ll po

licy

peri

ods

have

bee

n fu

lly e

xpir

ed f

or n

ot le

ss th

an 6

0 m

onth

s;

(C)

for

whi

ch a

ctiv

e pr

emiu

ms

are

no lo

nger

bei

ng p

aid;

and

(D)

whi

ch is

not

wor

kers

’ co

mpe

nsat

ion,

hea

lth, l

ife,

or

any

othe

r pe

rson

al li

ne o

f in

sura

nce.

Com

men

t #6

– A

CL

I A

ttac

hmen

t B

Pag

e 8

T

he A

mer

ican

Cou

ncil

of L

ife

Insu

rers

(“A

CL

I”)1

look

s fo

rwar

d to

wor

king

with

the

Res

truc

turi

ng M

echa

nism

s Su

bgro

up a

s it

addr

esse

s it

s ch

arge

s re

latin

g to

res

truc

turi

ng m

echa

nism

s an

d “r

unof

fs”

duri

ng th

e ne

xt f

ew m

onth

s.

We

do,

how

ever

, ha

ve c

once

rns

with

the

pro

pose

d de

fini

tion

of “

run-

off

com

pani

es”

that

is

cont

aine

d in

the

fir

st c

harg

e (o

n th

e de

velo

pmen

t of

fi

nanc

ial

surv

eilla

nce

tool

s) a

nd i

n “I

I-D

efin

itio

n of

Run

Off

.” I

n bo

th i

nsta

nces

, “r

un-o

ff c

ompa

nies

” ar

e de

fine

d as

“co

mpa

nies

tha

t ar

e no

lon

ger

activ

ely

wri

ting

insu

ranc

e bu

sine

ss o

r co

llect

ing

prem

ium

s.”

Whi

le w

e ar

e no

t ab

le to

pro

vide

you

with

an

alte

rnat

ive

defi

nitio

n at

this

tim

e, w

e do

not

e th

at, t

radi

tiona

lly, s

ome

com

pani

es t

hat a

re c

onsi

dere

d to

be

in

“run

-off

” co

ntin

ue t

o co

llect

pre

miu

ms.

We

will

be

offe

ring

our

per

spec

tives

and

sug

gest

ions

on

this

def

initi

on a

s th

e Su

bgro

up c

ontin

ues

its

impo

rtan

t wor

k.

Page 5: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

3

Com

men

t # 7

– A

IRR

OC

Atta

chm

ent C

omm

ent l

ette

r, A

dditi

onal

Atta

chm

ent,

P

age

9

(R

un

off

over

view

slid

es a

nd

PW

C s

urv

ey a

dd

itio

nal i

nfo

rmat

ion

- A

ttac

hm

ent

C)

T

he s

ize

of th

e gl

obal

run

off

mar

ket i

s $3

70 b

illio

n w

ith $

350

billi

on o

f th

at in

the

Uni

ted

Sta

tes.

AIR

RO

C is

the

only

U.S

. non

-pro

fit o

rgan

izat

ion

repr

esen

ting

the

lega

cy in

sura

nce

mar

ket.

The

se m

ater

ials

are

sub

mit

ted

for

educ

atio

n pu

rpos

es o

nly

to p

rovi

de s

ome

back

grou

nd a

nd c

onte

xt f

or t

he S

ubgr

oup

on r

unof

f an

d th

e ru

noff

m

arke

t. M

ater

ials

sub

mit

ted:

1. A

rec

ordi

ng o

f a

web

inar

tit

led

"Ove

rvie

w o

f R

unof

f “

that

was

pre

sent

ed b

y A

IRR

OC

on

Feb

ruar

y 6,

201

9. I

t ca

n be

vie

wed

at:

http

s://

vim

eo.c

om/3

1609

7460

/5be

ab58

3dc

- ad

dit

iona

l in

form

atio

n -

Att

ach

men

t C

Not

e P

ower

Poi

nt

pre

sen

tati

on n

oted

ru

noff

as

Wha

t is

'Ru

noff

'?

Run

off

is th

e te

rm u

sed

to b

road

ly d

escr

ibe

the

proc

ess

an I

nsur

ance

/ R

eins

uran

ce c

ompa

ny f

ollo

ws

whe

n it

has

a bl

ock

of b

usin

ess,

for

whi

ch it

mak

es f

utur

e pl

ans

for

hand

ling

the

liabi

lity

(exp

ecte

d fu

ture

cla

ims

that

it e

xpec

ts to

pay

and

for

whi

ch a

res

erve

has

bee

n es

tabl

ishe

d) a

nd is

not s

uppo

rted

sim

ilar

ly to

“on

goin

g bu

sine

ss.”

2.

The

20

18

Pw

C

- A

IRR

OC

-

IRL

A

Glo

bal

Insu

ranc

e R

unof

f S

urve

y.

Thi

s ca

n be

ac

cess

ed

on

the

Pw

C

web

site

at

: ht

tps:

//ww

w.p

wc.

com

/glo

balin

sura

ncer

unof

fsur

vey

- ad

dit

ion

al in

form

atio

n -

Att

ach

men

t C

AIR

RO

C is

ple

ased

to b

e an

edu

catio

nal r

esou

rce

to th

e Su

bgro

up a

s w

ell a

s th

e fu

ll W

orki

ng G

roup

.

Wh

at is

Run

off?

The

def

initi

ons

of r

unof

f va

ry g

reat

ly b

y co

mpa

ny a

nd e

ven

chan

ge o

ver

time

due

to f

acto

rs s

uch

as c

hang

es i

n un

derw

ritin

g cy

cle,

pro

fita

bili

ty,

rein

sura

nce

avai

labi

lity,

inte

rest

rat

es a

nd s

truc

ture

s to

adm

inis

ter.

In a

rec

ent s

urve

y of

the

mar

ket r

espo

nden

ts w

ere

aske

d “H

ow d

oes

your

org

aniz

atio

n de

fine

run

off

busi

ness

?”

Sam

ple

resp

onse

s in

clud

e:

•“A

ll lin

es o

f bu

sine

ss w

here

pre

miu

ms

are

no lo

nger

bei

ng w

ritte

n.”

•“A

ny d

isco

ntin

ued

line

of b

usin

ess.

” •“

Bus

ines

s th

at is

bei

ng w

ound

dow

n an

d no

long

er u

nder

wri

tten.

•“C

lose

d bo

ok o

f bu

sine

ss w

ith n

o m

ore

unde

rwri

ting.

” •“

2001

and

pri

or.”

•“D

isco

ntin

ued

com

pani

es, a

ffil

iate

s or

seg

men

ts.”

•“N

on-c

ore

to th

e gr

oup.

•“N

o ne

w w

ritte

n bu

sine

ss.”

Page 6: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

4

Con

tin

ued

com

men

ts -

AIR

RO

C:

Th

e R

isk

Bas

ed C

apit

al R

equ

irem

ent

and

Ru

nof

f

The

im

pact

of

the

RB

C o

n ru

noff

dep

ends

on

the

defi

nitio

n of

run

off.

Usi

ng t

he g

ener

al d

efin

ition

tha

t th

e ru

noff

mar

ket

is c

ompr

ised

of

A&

E

liab

ilit

ies

that

res

ide

mos

tly

in p

rior

acc

iden

t ye

ars

and

that

ret

roac

tive

rei

nsur

ance

is

ofte

n us

ed t

o m

anag

ed t

hese

exp

osur

es,

the

RB

C m

ay n

ot b

e su

itabl

e to

eva

luat

ing

thei

r ri

sk.

The

NA

IC R

isk

Bas

ed C

apita

l R

equi

rem

ent

atte

mpt

s to

sum

mar

ize

seve

ral

area

s of

an

insu

rer's

ris

k in

to a

sin

gle

valu

e an

d th

e fo

rmul

a re

sult

s ha

ve

spec

ific

act

ions

ass

ocia

ted

wit

h th

em.

The

six

Cat

egor

ies

of C

apita

l Cha

rges

are

:

R0

Inve

stm

ent i

n A

ffili

ates

and

Off

Bal

ance

She

et R

isks

R1

Fix

ed I

ncom

e C

harg

e

R2

Equ

ity

Cha

rge

R3

Rei

nsur

ance

/Cre

dit R

isk

Cha

rge

R4

Res

ervi

ng R

isk

Cha

rge

R5

Pre

miu

m/U

nder

wri

ting

Ris

k C

harg

e L

ever

agin

g L

egac

y L

iabi

litie

s

The

RB

C r

equi

rem

ent

is c

alcu

late

d as

R0+

SQ

RT

((R

1^2)

+(R

2^2)

+((

.5*R

3)^2

)+((

.5*R

3+R

4)^2

)+(R

5^2)

The

RB

C R

atio

is

calc

ulat

ed a

s A

djus

ted

Sur

plus

/RB

C R

equi

rem

ent.

For

Run

off

Com

pani

es, t

hose

no

long

er a

ctiv

ely

wri

ting

new

bus

ines

s, t

he R

4 R

eser

ving

Ris

k C

harg

e do

min

ates

the

cal

cula

tion.

The

RB

C a

ppro

ach

of u

sing

the

late

st 1

0 ac

cide

nt y

ears

may

not

be

suit

able

for

eva

luat

ing

this

ris

k of

run

off

com

pani

es f

or th

e fo

llow

ing

reas

ons:

a) I

n m

any

of t

hese

com

pani

es t

he l

iabi

litie

s ar

e co

mpr

ised

of

A&

E a

nd m

atur

e W

C l

iabi

litie

s th

at r

esid

e in

pri

or a

ccid

ent

year

s; t

here

fore

th

e R

BC

app

roac

h to

usi

ng t

he l

ates

t 10

yea

rs m

ay b

e no

t ap

prop

riat

e fo

r ev

alua

ting

this

ris

k as

lia

bilit

ies

ofte

n re

side

in

acci

dent

yea

rs

beyo

nd th

e la

test

10

year

s, a

nd

b) R

etro

activ

e re

insu

ranc

e is

com

mon

ly u

sed

in th

e ru

n-of

f sp

ace,

and

sin

ce th

ese

cont

ract

s ar

e no

t req

uire

d to

be

repo

rted

in S

ched

ule

P, t

he

RB

C a

ppro

ach

that

util

izes

Sch

edul

e P

dat

a m

ay n

ot b

e pr

actic

al in

eva

luat

ing

thei

r ri

sk.

The

Pre

miu

m/U

nder

wri

ting

Ris

k C

harg

e, R

5, i

s m

uch

less

of

a ri

sk a

rea

for

Run

off

Com

pani

es.

Spec

ific

ite

ms,

lik

e th

e co

llect

ion

of p

rem

ium

on

retr

ospe

ctiv

ely

rate

d po

lices

may

cau

se d

isto

rtio

ns in

the

calc

ulat

ion

of E

xces

sive

Pre

miu

m G

row

th c

harg

es a

nd C

ombi

ned

ratio

trig

gers

with

out a

ny

chan

ge in

the

risk

pro

file

of

the

com

pany

.

With

the

inc

reas

ed u

se o

f In

sura

nce

Bus

ines

s T

rans

fers

and

Ret

roac

tive

Rei

nsur

ance

, the

mos

t cr

itica

l is

sue

for

Run

off

Com

pani

es i

s th

e av

aila

bili

ty

of c

ash

and

liqui

d as

sets

to

satis

fy p

olic

yhol

der

clai

ms

and

othe

r ob

ligat

ions

. It

may

be

prud

ent

for

the

regu

lato

r to

sep

arat

ely

cons

ider

sig

nifi

cant

am

ount

s of

ret

roac

tive

rein

sura

nce

(cur

rent

ly o

utsi

de o

f th

e R

BC

for

mul

a) w

hen

dete

rmin

ing

a ru

noff

com

pany

's c

apita

l req

uire

men

ts.

Page 7: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

5

Com

men

t # 8

– P

atri

ck C

antil

o of

Can

tilo

and

Ben

nett,

LL

P

Atta

chm

ent B

P

age

12

I

wri

te s

olel

y on

my

own

beha

lf a

nd t

he v

iew

s I

expr

ess

are

not

inte

nded

to

refl

ect

thos

e of

any

clie

nt o

r ot

her

inte

rest

ed p

arty

. As

you

know

, I h

ave

spen

t th

e la

st f

our

deca

des

wor

king

in

insu

ranc

e re

gula

tion,

pri

mar

ily

on b

ehal

f of

sta

te i

nsur

ance

off

icia

ls i

n m

atte

rs a

ffec

ting

trou

bled

ins

uran

ce

com

pani

es a

nd c

ompl

ex i

nsur

ance

tra

nsac

tions

. M

y vi

ews

are

info

rmed

by

that

exp

erie

nce

and

I di

sclo

se t

hat

my

bias

fav

ors

prot

ectio

n of

po

licyh

olde

r in

tere

sts

and

the

stat

e-ba

sed

regu

lato

ry s

yste

m.

I of

fer

two

com

men

ts r

elev

ant

to t

he S

ubgr

oup’

s cu

rren

t de

liber

atio

ns.

The

fir

st

addr

esse

s th

e de

fini

tion

of r

unof

f co

mpa

ny a

nd th

e se

cond

the

role

of

cert

ain

rest

ruct

urin

g m

echa

nism

s.

It is

sug

gest

ed th

at “

runo

ff c

ompa

nies

” ex

clud

e th

ose

that

are

col

lect

ing

prem

ium

. I s

ubm

it th

at d

oing

so

wou

ld b

e in

cons

iste

nt w

ith e

cono

mic

rea

lity.

T

here

are

in

exis

tenc

e m

any

“clo

sed

bloc

ks”

and

othe

r en

titie

s co

mpr

ised

sol

ely

of “

lega

cy”

or e

xist

ing

busi

ness

muc

h or

all

whi

ch c

ontin

ues

to p

ay

prem

ium

tho

ugh

they

can

be

fair

ly c

hara

cter

ized

as

bein

g in

run

off.

Not

able

cur

rent

exa

mpl

es a

re t

hose

of

wel

l-kn

own

long

-ter

m c

are

insu

ranc

e bl

ocks

. C

erta

in c

ompa

nies

hol

ding

the

se b

lock

s ty

pica

lly d

o no

t se

ek t

o w

rite

new

bus

ines

s an

d th

eir

role

is

sole

ly t

o m

anag

e an

exi

stin

g bo

ok o

f lia

bilit

ies

to e

xpir

atio

n. I

pro

pose

tha

t th

e te

rm “

runo

ff c

ompa

ny”

be d

efin

ed a

s “a

n en

tity

who

se s

ole

mat

eria

l bu

sine

ss i

s th

e m

anag

emen

t in

ac

cord

ance

wit

h co

ntra

ctua

l and

reg

ulat

ory

obli

gati

ons

of a

n ex

istin

g gr

oup

of in

sura

nce

polic

ies

or c

ontr

acts

thro

ugh

thei

r te

rmin

atio

n.”

Rec

ently

ther

e ha

s be

en m

uch

talk

thro

ugho

ut m

any

NA

IC c

omm

ittee

s, w

orki

ng g

roup

s, a

nd ta

sk f

orce

s of

rel

ativ

ely

new

alte

rnat

ive

mec

hani

sms

for

the

man

agem

ent

of l

egac

y bl

ocks

and

oth

er s

peci

al t

rans

actio

nal

need

s. N

otab

le e

xam

ples

are

Ins

uran

ce B

usin

ess

Tra

nsfe

rs (

“IB

T”)

and

cor

pora

te

divi

sion

sta

tute

s. W

hile

thes

e an

d si

mil

ar m

echa

nism

s ca

n se

rve

usef

ul p

urpo

ses

for

solv

ent i

nsur

ers

and

rein

sure

rs in

sev

eral

type

s of

cir

cum

stan

ces,

th

ey s

houl

d no

t be

conf

used

with

tool

s fo

r ad

dres

sing

fin

anci

ally

trou

bled

com

pani

es. A

com

mon

ele

men

t of

such

tran

sact

ions

is th

at th

ey d

o no

t add

ne

w v

alue

. The

y ar

e no

t inv

estm

ent v

ehic

les

and,

pro

perl

y us

ed, d

o no

t inc

reas

e as

sets

or

redu

ce li

abili

ties.

Rat

her,

thes

e ty

pes

of tr

ansa

ctio

ns e

nabl

e an

ent

erpr

ise

to s

egre

gate

a d

iscr

ete

grou

p of

liab

ilitie

s (l

ike

a le

gacy

long

-ter

m c

are

insu

ranc

e bl

ock)

and

pla

ce th

em e

ithe

r in

new

ly c

reat

ed is

olat

ed

entit

ies

(as

thro

ugh

a co

rpor

ate

divi

sion

) or

in s

epar

ate

exis

ting

ent

ities

(as

thou

gh a

nd I

BT

).

In t

heir

pur

e fo

rm, s

uch

tran

sact

ions

do

not

impr

ove

the

econ

omic

hea

lth

of t

he b

lock

at

issu

e. O

f co

urse

, suc

h tr

ansa

ctio

ns c

ould

be

mad

e pa

rt o

f a

mor

e co

mpr

ehen

sive

arr

ange

men

t th

at c

an h

ave

that

eff

ect,

such

as

an I

BT

or

corp

orat

e di

visi

on t

hat

also

inc

lude

s th

e co

ntri

butio

n of

add

ition

al

capi

tal d

evot

ed to

the

bloc

k in

que

stio

n. I

t has

bee

n ob

serv

ed th

at th

ese

new

mec

hani

sms

are

sim

ply

new

way

s of

acc

ompl

ishi

ng g

oals

that

hav

e be

en

poss

ible

thr

ough

oth

er m

echa

nism

s li

ke l

oss

port

foli

o tr

ansf

ers

and

assu

mpt

ion

rein

sura

nce

tran

sact

ions

. T

hat

may

be

the

case

but

doe

s no

t su

gges

t th

at t

he a

dditi

onal

fle

xibi

lity

of n

ew p

oten

tial

stru

ctur

es c

anno

t ad

d va

lue.

My

caut

ion

wou

ld b

e si

mpl

y th

at t

hese

are

not

too

ls t

hat

can

impr

ove

mat

eria

lly

our

abili

ty to

cop

e w

ith tr

oubl

ed c

ompa

nies

. The

y ca

n be

com

bine

d w

ith s

uch

tool

s (l

ike

capi

tal i

nfus

ions

or

new

rei

nsur

ance

that

incl

udes

m

ater

ial r

isk

tran

sfer

) bu

t by

them

selv

es d

o no

t rel

ieve

fin

anci

al tr

oubl

e.

Com

men

t # 9

– N

orth

wes

tern

Mut

ual a

nd N

ew Y

ork

Lif

e

Atta

chm

ent B

P

age

14

In

gen

eral

, w

e st

rong

ly s

uppo

rt t

he s

ubgr

oup’

s ch

arge

s. W

hile

we

endo

rse

all

the

char

ges,

we

ask

that

the

sub

grou

p gi

ve s

peci

al e

mph

asis

to

the

deve

lopm

ent o

f un

ifor

m m

inim

um s

tand

ards

for

res

truc

turi

ng m

echa

nism

s.

Th

e Im

port

ance

of

Str

ong,

Un

ifor

m S

tand

ard

s fo

r D

ivis

ion

s an

d B

usi

nes

s T

ran

sfer

s

Sev

eral

sta

tes

have

rec

entl

y en

acte

d ne

w “

divi

sion

” an

d “i

nsur

ance

bus

ines

s tr

ansf

er”

law

s th

at a

llow

insu

rers

to tr

ansf

er a

nd n

ovat

e bu

sine

ss w

itho

ut

polic

yhol

der

cons

ent.

Whi

le t

hese

law

s of

fer

new

fle

xibi

lity

to c

ompa

nies

and

reg

ulat

ors,

the

y al

so i

ntro

duce

new

dan

gers

for

pol

icyh

olde

rs a

nd t

he

stat

e-ba

sed

syst

em o

f in

sura

nce

regu

lati

on.

Bec

ause

we

beli

eve

ther

e ar

e ex

istin

g al

tern

ativ

es t

hat

prov

ide

suff

icie

nt f

lexi

bilit

y in

nea

rly

all

circ

umst

ance

s an

d be

caus

e w

e w

ant

to m

aint

ain

poli

cyho

lder

pro

tect

ions

, ou

r st

rong

pre

fere

nce

is a

gain

st t

he e

nact

men

t or

use

of

divi

sion

and

in

sura

nce

busi

ness

tran

sfer

sta

tute

s fo

r lif

e, a

nnui

ty o

r he

alth

insu

ranc

e. H

owev

er, r

ecog

nizi

ng th

at r

egul

ator

s m

ay w

ish

to f

ind

a w

ay to

per

mit

, in

Page 8: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

6

Con

tin

ued

com

men

ts -

Nor

thw

este

rn M

utu

al a

nd

New

Yor

k L

ife

lim

ited

cir

cum

stan

ces,

tran

sact

ions

that

are

ben

efic

ial t

o al

l pol

icyh

olde

rs, o

ur c

omm

ents

in th

is le

tter

addr

ess

the

min

imum

sta

ndar

ds r

equi

red

if li

fe,

annu

ity o

r he

alth

div

isio

ns o

r tr

ansf

ers

are

to b

e co

nsid

ered

.

Unl

ike

trad

ition

al i

ndem

nity

rei

nsur

ance

, w

here

the

ori

gina

l in

sure

r re

mai

ns l

iabl

e, t

hese

new

str

uctu

res

allo

w t

he o

rigi

nal

insu

rer

to e

xtin

guis

h lia

bilit

y to

pol

icyh

olde

rs. W

e ha

ve g

rave

con

cern

s ab

out s

ever

al a

spec

ts o

f th

ese

new

law

s:

T

here

is

no n

atio

nally

uni

form

fin

anci

al s

tand

ard

or a

ctua

rial

lev

el o

f co

nfid

ence

for

reg

ulat

ors

to a

pply

whe

n re

view

ing

the

fina

ncia

l st

reng

th o

f a

busi

ness

inc

lude

d in

a d

ivis

ion

or t

rans

fer.

A s

tron

g, n

atio

nall

y un

ifor

m s

tand

ard

is n

eces

sary

to

ensu

re t

hat

poli

cyho

lder

s ar

e pr

otec

ted

agai

nst t

he r

isk

of in

solv

ency

. Thi

s st

anda

rd s

houl

d be

com

e an

NA

IC a

ccre

dita

tion

req

uire

men

t. T

he d

evel

opm

ent o

f th

is s

tand

ard

shou

ld b

e a

criti

cal a

rea

of f

ocus

for

the

subg

roup

.

In

som

e st

ates

, di

visi

on a

nd i

nsur

ance

bus

ines

s tr

ansf

er l

aws

are

open

to

any

line

of b

usin

ess,

eve

n w

hen

it is

dif

ficu

lt or

im

poss

ible

to

arri

ve a

t a

cred

ible

lon

g-te

rm v

alua

tion

of t

he b

usin

ess

invo

lved

. For

exa

mpl

e, a

div

isio

n co

uld

allo

cate

dis

tres

sed,

har

d-to

-val

ue l

ong-

term

ca

re l

iabi

litie

s to

a n

ewly

cre

ated

spl

inte

r co

mpa

ny. I

n th

is s

cena

rio,

hea

lthi

er b

usin

ess

and

asso

ciat

ed a

sset

s m

ight

rem

ain

with

the

ori

gina

l co

mpa

ny, e

ndan

geri

ng p

olic

yhol

ders

rel

egat

ed to

the

spli

nter

com

pany

.

So

me

law

s al

so a

llow

the

cre

atio

n of

mon

olin

e in

sure

rs, p

oten

tial

ly d

epri

ving

pol

icyh

olde

rs o

f th

e be

nefi

ts o

f di

vers

ific

atio

n w

ithou

t th

eir

cons

ent.

So

me

law

s al

so a

llow

the

divi

sion

of

a m

ulti-

stat

e in

sure

r in

to a

spl

inte

r co

mpa

ny li

cens

ed in

a s

ingl

e st

ate,

pot

enti

ally

ove

rwhe

lmin

g th

e

stat

e’s

dom

esti

c gu

aran

ty a

ssoc

iatio

n in

the

even

t of

inso

lven

cy.

S

ome

law

s sa

nctio

n th

e us

e of

non

-adm

itted

ass

ets

to s

uppo

rt p

olic

y lia

bilit

ies.

S

ever

al l

aws

lack

oth

er i

mpo

rtan

t pr

oced

ural

and

sub

stan

tive

safe

guar

ds l

ike

publ

ic n

otic

e, r

equi

rem

ents

to

cons

ult

with

oth

er i

nter

este

d st

ates

, ind

epen

dent

exp

ert r

evie

w, a

hea

ring

or

cour

t pro

cess

, and

req

uire

men

ts to

ass

ess

corp

orat

e go

vern

ance

and

ow

ner

qual

ific

atio

ns.

At

thei

r w

orst

, th

ese

new

law

s co

uld

enab

le t

rans

actio

ns t

hat

enri

ch s

hare

hold

ers

at t

he e

xpen

se o

f po

licyh

olde

rs,

guar

anty

ass

ocia

tions

and

the

re

puta

tions

of

both

the

ind

ustr

y an

d st

ate-

base

d sy

stem

of

insu

ranc

e re

gula

tion.

Eff

ectiv

e, n

atio

nally

uni

form

ove

rsig

ht o

f so

lven

cy h

as l

ong

been

a

hall

mar

k of

sta

te-b

ased

ins

uran

ce r

egul

atio

n. I

t is

ess

entia

l th

at t

he N

AIC

act

to

pres

erve

thi

s st

reng

th o

f th

e st

ate-

base

d sy

stem

. T

hese

new

tr

ansa

ctio

n st

ruct

ures

mus

t no

t be

all

owed

to

unde

rmin

e fu

ndam

enta

l so

lven

cy r

egul

atio

n an

d po

licyh

olde

r pr

otec

tions

. W

e ex

pect

tha

t th

e su

bgro

up’s

wor

k w

ill b

e a

criti

cal p

art o

f th

is e

ffor

t.

In th

e di

scus

sion

bel

ow, w

e su

gges

t sev

eral

pri

ncip

les

that

sho

uld

gove

rn r

egul

ator

y re

view

of

prop

osed

div

isio

n an

d bu

sine

ss tr

ansf

er tr

ansa

ctio

ns.

Pol

icyh

old

ers

Sh

ould

Nev

er B

e L

eft

Wor

se O

ff

Reg

ulat

ors

shou

ld n

ever

app

rove

a d

ivis

ion

or i

nsur

ance

bus

ines

s tr

ansf

er i

f it

wou

ld l

eave

any

cla

ss o

f po

licyh

olde

rs w

orse

off

. In

stea

d,

polic

yhol

ders

sho

uld

be l

eft

in t

he s

ame

or a

bet

ter

posi

tion

afte

r co

mpl

etio

n of

the

tra

nsac

tion.

Bef

ore

the

regu

lato

r si

gns

off,

a v

alua

tion

shou

ld b

e un

dert

aken

by

an e

xper

t to

est

ablis

h at

a h

igh

leve

l of

con

fide

nce

that

pol

icyh

olde

rs w

ill e

xper

ienc

e no

adv

erse

eff

ects

. T

he e

xper

t sh

ould

be

inde

pend

ent

of a

ny i

nflu

ence

fro

m t

he c

ompa

nies

inv

olve

d. T

his

appr

oach

wou

ld a

lign

the

U.S

. re

gula

tory

fra

mew

ork

with

wel

l-es

tabl

ishe

d in

tern

atio

nal

prec

eden

ts l

ike

the

Uni

ted

Kin

gdom

’s “

Par

t V

II”

busi

ness

tra

nsfe

r re

gim

e. A

foc

us o

n po

licyh

olde

r pr

otec

tion

has

been

fun

dam

enta

l to

th

e su

cces

s of

the

U.K

. re

gim

e. I

n a

Par

t V

II t

rans

acti

on,

the

regu

lato

r m

ust

prov

ide

a de

taile

d re

port

to

the

cour

t an

d ce

rtif

y th

e so

lven

cy o

f th

e re

sult

ing

entit

y. A

n in

depe

nden

t ex

pert

mus

t al

so p

rovi

de a

det

aile

d re

port

. Whe

n th

ere

are

ques

tions

abo

ut t

he s

tren

gth

of th

e bu

sine

ss i

nvol

ved,

the

Page 9: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

7

Con

tin

ued

com

men

ts -

Nor

thw

este

rn M

utu

al a

nd

New

Yor

k L

ife:

U.K

. reg

ulat

ors

and

the

cour

t wil

l nor

mal

ly in

sist

on

ensu

ring

that

the

busi

ness

is tr

ansf

erre

d to

a s

tron

ger

insu

rer,

not

isol

ated

in a

wea

ker

insu

rer.

Req

uir

e S

tron

g F

inan

cial

Sta

nda

rds

and

Str

ess

Tes

ting

for

Lon

g-D

ura

tion

Bu

sine

ss

Eve

n if

a l

ong-

dura

tion

life

or h

ealth

bus

ines

s is

elig

ible

for

inc

lusi

on i

n a

tran

sact

ion,

reg

ulat

ors

wil

l st

ill

need

a r

obus

t fr

amew

ork

to e

valu

ate

the

long

-ter

m s

olve

ncy

of th

e bu

sine

ss. R

egul

ator

s sh

ould

con

side

r th

e fo

llow

ing

prin

cipl

es in

the

deve

lopm

ent o

f th

is f

ram

ewor

k:

For

long

-dur

atio

n lif

e, a

nnui

ty a

nd h

ealth

bus

ines

s, r

egul

ator

s sh

ould

sta

rt w

ith a

foc

us o

n po

licy

rese

rves

, and

sho

uld

requ

ire

stre

ss te

stin

g of

res

erve

s at

a “

seve

rely

adv

erse

” le

vel.

If r

eser

ves

are

not

subj

ecte

d to

a h

igh

leve

l of

str

ess

test

ing,

a d

ivis

ion

or t

rans

fer

may

app

ear

to

leav

e a

busi

ness

ade

quat

ely

capi

taliz

ed a

t th

e tim

e of

the

tra

nsac

tion.

How

ever

, th

e pi

ctur

e ca

n ch

ange

ove

r ti

me

as l

ong-

term

exp

erie

nce

dive

rges

fro

m a

ssum

ptio

ns. A

gain

, con

side

r th

e re

cent

exp

erie

nce

of lo

ng-t

erm

car

e.

Sta

rtin

g fr

om a

bas

is o

f re

serv

es m

eeti

ng a

“se

vere

ly a

dver

se”

stan

dard

, fo

rmul

aic

appl

icat

ion

of r

isk-

base

d ca

pita

l w

ill,

appr

opri

atel

y,

resu

lt in

a h

ighe

r le

vel

of r

equi

red

capi

tal

for

the

busi

ness

aff

ecte

d by

the

div

isio

n or

tra

nsfe

r. H

owev

er,

whi

le r

isk-

base

d ca

pita

l m

ay

prov

ide

a us

eful

sta

rtin

g po

int

to e

stab

lish

capi

tal

requ

irem

ents

, it

is n

ot d

esig

ned

to m

easu

re r

elat

ive

fina

ncia

l st

reng

th a

nd t

here

fore

wou

ld

be in

suff

icie

nt o

n its

ow

n to

det

erm

ine

the

min

imum

req

uire

d fi

nanc

ial p

ositi

on o

f a

tran

sfer

red

busi

ness

.

In

stea

d, i

n ad

ditio

n to

ris

k-ba

sed

capi

tal,

regu

lato

rs s

houl

d ex

plor

e ca

pita

l st

anda

rds

for

long

-dur

atio

n lif

e an

d he

alth

bus

ines

s th

at a

re b

ased

on

a de

fine

d ra

tio o

f as

set a

dequ

acy

stan

dard

s. C

apita

l sta

ndar

ds b

ased

on

this

type

of

cash

flo

w p

roje

ctio

n te

chni

que

can

help

ens

ure

that

eno

ugh

capi

tal i

s he

ld in

a tr

ansf

erre

d bu

sine

ss, s

uppl

emen

ting

the

exis

ting

risk

-bas

ed c

apita

l fra

mew

ork.

Reg

ulat

ors

shou

ld e

stab

lish

a c

onfi

denc

e le

vel

base

d on

the

gre

ates

t pr

esen

t va

lue

of a

ccum

ulat

ed d

efic

ienc

ies

over

a l

ong-

term

hor

izon

ac

ross

sto

chas

tic s

cena

rios

. T

he c

onfi

denc

e le

vel

shou

ld b

e se

t at

a s

tand

ard

that

ass

ures

sol

venc

y ov

er t

he l

ife

of t

he b

usin

ess

so a

s to

pr

ovid

e a

robu

st b

acks

top

to th

e co

mbi

natio

n of

res

erve

s es

tabl

ishe

d to

mee

t a “

seve

rely

adv

erse

” st

anda

rd a

nd r

isk-

base

d ca

pita

l.

P

resc

ribe

d as

sum

ptio

ns s

houl

d be

incl

uded

in c

apit

al c

alcu

latio

ns to

avo

id th

e m

anip

ulat

ion

of c

apita

l thr

esho

lds.

Act

uari

al r

eser

ve a

nd c

apit

al c

alcu

latio

ns s

houl

d be

per

form

ed b

y an

exp

ert t

hat i

s in

depe

nden

t of

the

insu

ranc

e co

mpa

nies

invo

lved

.

Use

Un

ifor

m N

AIC

Val

uat

ion

and

Acc

oun

tin

g St

anda

rds

W

hen

eval

uatin

g th

e so

lven

cy i

mpa

ct o

f a

prop

osed

tra

nsac

tion,

reg

ulat

ors

shou

ld n

ot g

ive

cred

it fo

r no

n-ad

mitt

ed a

sset

s. D

ecis

ions

abo

ut t

hese

tr

ansa

ctio

ns s

houl

d st

art f

rom

the

NA

IC’s

uni

form

sta

tuto

ry v

alua

tion

and

acc

ount

ing

rule

s.

The

pos

sibi

lity

that

non

-adm

itte

d as

sets

mig

ht b

e us

ed to

bac

k re

serv

es a

nd c

apita

l in

thes

e tr

ansa

ctio

ns is

dee

ply

trou

blin

g fo

r th

e fo

llow

ing

reas

ons:

M

ost n

on-a

dmitt

ed a

sset

s ar

e cl

assi

fied

that

way

bec

ause

they

are

not

rea

dily

ava

ilabl

e to

sat

isfy

pol

icyh

olde

r cl

aim

s.

P

ut a

noth

er w

ay, m

any

non-

adm

itte

d as

sets

are

not

rea

dily

mar

keta

ble

or d

o no

t pro

duce

fut

ure

cash

flo

ws.

N

on-a

dmit

ted

asse

ts c

an in

clud

e an

ythi

ng a

com

pany

ow

ns, f

rom

illiq

uid

and

cont

inge

nt le

tters

of

cred

it to

off

ice

furn

iture

, equ

ipm

ent,

Page 10: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

8

Con

tin

ued

com

men

ts -

Nor

thw

este

rn M

utu

al a

nd

New

Yor

k L

ife:

ha

rdw

are

and

soft

war

e.

It

mak

es s

ense

to e

xclu

de th

ese

item

s fr

om th

e po

ol o

f as

sets

an

insu

ranc

e co

mpa

ny c

an c

ount

tow

ard

the

paym

ent o

f fu

ture

cla

ims,

as

they

ar

e ill

iqui

d, u

nlik

ely

to r

etai

n th

eir

valu

e, a

nd g

ener

ally

do

not p

rodu

ce a

dditi

onal

inco

me.

The

dis

tinct

ion

betw

een

adm

itte

d an

d no

n-ad

mitt

ed a

sset

s sh

ould

not

cha

nge

in t

he c

onte

xt o

f a

divi

sion

or

busi

ness

tra

nsac

tion.

In

fact

, gi

ven

the

risk

tha

t co

mpa

nies

will

use

res

truc

turi

ng m

echa

nism

s to

wal

l of

f di

stre

ssed

bus

ines

ses,

it

is e

spec

iall

y im

port

ant

that

reg

ulat

ors

scru

tini

ze th

e qu

alit

y of

the

asse

ts in

volv

ed.

Inst

ead,

in a

dditi

on to

ris

k-ba

sed

capi

tal,

regu

lato

rs s

houl

d ex

plor

e ca

pita

l sta

ndar

ds f

or lo

ng-d

urat

ion

life

and

heal

th b

usin

ess

that

are

M

inim

um

Req

uir

emen

ts S

hou

ld B

ecom

e N

AIC

Acc

red

itat

ion

Sta

nd

ard

s

Ult

imat

ely,

it w

ill b

e es

sent

ial t

hat t

he N

AIC

est

ablis

h st

rong

min

imum

req

uire

men

ts f

or th

ese

tran

sact

ions

as

accr

edit

atio

n st

anda

rds.

The

str

engt

h of

stat

e-ba

sed

syst

em d

epen

ds u

pon

the

inte

grity

of

solv

ency

reg

ulat

ion

acro

ss t

he c

ount

ry.

Reg

ulat

ors

will

nee

d to

rel

y on

the

ir c

ount

erpa

rts

in o

ther

st

ates

to e

nsur

e th

at tr

ansf

erre

d bu

sine

sses

are

uni

form

ly s

uppo

rted

by

suff

icie

nt r

eser

ves

and

capi

tal,

and

are

run

off

in a

sol

vent

man

ner.

Com

pani

es

shou

ld n

ot b

e al

low

ed to

arb

itrag

e th

eir

way

to d

imin

ishe

d so

lven

cy o

vers

ight

by

choo

sing

one

dom

icile

ove

r an

othe

r.

Oth

er P

roce

dura

l Saf

egu

ard

s A

re A

lso

Imp

orta

nt

In t

his

lette

r, w

e ha

ve f

ocus

ed p

rim

arily

on

the

fina

ncia

l st

anda

rds

that

sho

uld

appl

y to

div

isio

ns a

nd i

nsur

ance

bus

ines

s tr

ansf

ers.

We

expe

ct t

hose

st

anda

rds

will

be

a si

gnif

ican

t foc

us o

f th

e su

bgro

up. H

owev

er, t

here

are

oth

er p

roce

dura

l saf

egua

rds

that

are

equ

ally

impo

rtan

t for

thes

e tr

ansa

ctio

ns.

For

exa

mpl

e, s

ince

pol

icyh

olde

rs lo

se th

eir

norm

al r

ight

to c

onse

nt, c

ourt

ove

rsig

ht a

nd a

ppro

val s

houl

d be

req

uire

d. P

olic

yhol

ders

and

oth

er a

ffec

ted

part

ies

shou

ld a

lway

s be

giv

en n

otic

e, a

cces

s to

all

info

rmat

ion

need

ed to

mea

ning

fully

rev

iew

a p

ropo

sed

tran

sact

ion,

and

an

oppo

rtun

ity to

be

hear

d in

cou

rt.

Als

o, t

he p

roce

ss s

houl

d re

quir

e ap

prov

al o

r no

nobj

ectio

n of

all

affe

cted

sta

tes

and

the

resu

lting

ent

ities

sho

uld

be l

icen

sed

in a

ll st

ates

ne

eded

so

as n

ot t

o im

pair

pol

icyh

olde

rs’

acce

ss t

o th

eir

stat

e gu

aran

ty a

ssoc

iatio

ns.

We

belie

ve t

hese

pro

tect

ions

sho

uld

also

be

cons

ider

ed f

or

accr

edit

atio

n re

quir

emen

ts.

We

look

for

war

d to

pro

vidi

ng o

ur v

iew

s on

thi

s an

d ot

her

proc

edur

al s

afeg

uard

s to

the

Res

truc

turi

ng M

echa

nism

s (E

) W

orki

ng G

roup

.

Com

men

t # 1

0 –

Nat

ionw

ide

A

ttach

men

t B

Pag

e 20

Nat

ionw

ide

beli

eves

tha

t it

wou

ld b

e di

ffic

ult

to c

raft

a s

ingu

lar

defi

nitio

n of

wha

t co

nstit

utes

a c

ompa

ny i

n ru

noff

. T

here

fore

, an

y de

fini

tion

reco

mm

ende

d by

the

Sub

grou

p an

d ad

opte

d by

the

NA

IC s

houl

d pr

ovid

e fo

r a

mec

hani

sm b

y w

hich

the

com

pany

and

its

dom

icili

ary

regu

lato

r ca

n ag

ree

that

an

insu

rer

is o

pera

ting

as a

run

off

com

pany

. We

note

that

cer

tain

run

off

insu

rers

may

no

long

er b

e ac

tivel

y w

ritin

g ne

w in

sura

nce

busi

ness

; ho

wev

er,

they

may

ass

ume

runo

ff b

ooks

of

busi

ness

fro

m t

ime

to t

ime

from

aff

iliat

ed c

ompa

nies

. In

add

ition

, ru

noff

ins

urer

s m

ay a

lso

acce

pt

imm

ater

ial

amou

nts

of p

rem

ium

on

retr

ospe

ctiv

ely

rate

d po

licie

s th

at w

ere

wri

tten

man

y ye

ars

ago.

In

our

view

, th

e as

sum

ptio

n of

aff

ilia

ted

runo

ff

book

s of

bus

ines

s an

d th

e ac

cept

ance

of

imm

ater

ial

amou

nts

of p

rem

ium

due

to

retr

ospe

ctiv

ely

rate

d po

licie

s sh

ould

not

res

ult

in a

run

off

insu

rer

no

long

er b

eing

dee

med

as

such

.

In li

ght o

f th

e ab

ove,

Nat

ionw

ide

prop

oses

the

follo

win

g de

fini

tion

of a

"ru

noff

insu

rer''

.

Page 11: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

9

Con

tin

ued

com

men

ts -

Nat

ion

wid

e

Run

off

Insu

rer''

mea

ns a

n in

sure

r th

at,

in c

onsu

ltatio

n w

ith i

nsur

ance

com

mis

sion

er o

f its

sta

te o

f do

mic

ile,

has

mad

e an

ele

ctio

n to

be

trea

ted

as a

ru

noff

insu

rer

or h

as b

een

deem

ed to

be

oper

atin

g as

a r

unof

f in

sure

r, b

ased

upo

n its

sat

isfa

ctio

n th

e fo

llow

ing

crite

ria:

(1)

the

insu

rer

does

not

act

ivel

y w

rite

new

bus

ines

s;

(2)

any

assu

med

bus

ines

s is

lim

ited

to th

e as

sum

ptio

n of

run

off

book

s of

bus

ines

s fr

om a

ffili

ated

com

pani

es; a

nd

(3)

any

prem

ium

acc

epte

d by

the

insu

rer

is d

eter

min

ed to

be

imm

ater

ial a

nd in

cide

ntal

to it

s st

atus

as

a ru

noff

insu

rer.

As

the

Subg

roup

car

ries

out

its

cha

rge

of c

onsi

deri

ng w

heth

er t

o de

velo

p fi

nanc

ial

surv

eilla

nce

tool

s sp

ecif

ical

ly d

esig

ned

for

com

pani

es i

n ru

noff

, in

clud

ing

pros

pect

ive

chan

ges

to t

he R

BC

for

mul

a to

bet

ter

asse

ss t

he m

inim

um s

urpl

us r

equi

rem

ents

for

com

pani

es i

n ru

noff

, w

e re

spec

tful

ly

requ

est

that

the

Sub

grou

p al

so c

onsi

der

whe

ther

exi

stin

g re

gula

tory

req

uire

men

ts a

nd s

urve

illan

ce t

ools

sho

uld

no l

onge

r ap

ply

to c

ompa

nies

in

runo

ff b

ecau

se th

ey w

ere

not d

esig

ned

for

runo

ff in

sure

rs a

nd, a

s a

resu

lt, a

re n

ot "

fit f

or p

urpo

se".

To

high

light

one

exa

mpl

e, N

atio

nwid

e ha

s pr

evio

usly

rai

sed

to t

he N

AIC

's P

rope

rty

and

Cas

ualty

(P

&C

) R

isk-

Bas

ed C

apita

l (R

BC

) W

orki

ng G

roup

co

ncer

ns w

ith t

he c

ontin

ued

appl

icat

ion

of t

he P

&C

RB

C t

rend

tes

t to

run

off

insu

rers

. T

he P

&C

RB

C t

rend

tes

t w

ould

req

uire

an

insu

rer

with

a

com

bine

d ra

tio e

xcee

ding

120

% to

hol

d re

gula

tory

cap

ital a

t or

abov

e 30

0% o

f its

aut

hori

zed

cont

rol l

evel

(A

CL

) R

BC

; rat

her

than

200

% A

CL

RB

C

for

com

pani

es w

ith a

com

bine

d ra

tio b

elow

120

%.

Run

off

com

pani

es t

hat

gene

rate

a s

mal

l am

ount

of

retr

ospe

ctiv

ely

rate

d pr

emiu

m f

rom

pol

icie

s w

ritt

en m

any

year

s in

the

pas

t w

ill

alm

ost

alw

ays

be w

ithi

n th

e sc

ope

of t

he R

BC

"tr

end

test

" du

e to

com

bine

d ra

tios

wel

l ex

ceed

ing

120%

. A

s a

resu

lt, th

ey w

ill b

e ex

pect

ed to

mai

ntai

n hi

gher

reg

ulat

ory

capi

tal r

equi

rem

ent,

desp

ite n

ot p

osin

g an

y ad

ditio

nal s

olve

ncy

risk

, whe

n co

mpa

red

to a

runo

ff c

ompa

ny t

hat

does

not

gen

erat

e an

y pr

emiu

m (

or e

ven

nega

tive

prem

ium

) an

d is

not

sub

ject

to

the

RB

C t

rend

tes

t. In

fac

t, th

e ac

cept

ance

of

any

prem

ium

for

thes

e co

mpa

nies

enh

ance

s th

eir

solv

ency

pos

ition

.

The

refo

re,

as t

he S

ubgr

oup

mov

es f

orw

ard

with

its

cha

rges

, w

e be

lieve

it

shou

ld c

onsi

der

not

only

the

nec

essi

ty o

f de

velo

ping

new

fin

anci

al

surv

eill

ance

too

ls f

or r

unof

f in

sure

rs, b

ut a

lso

rem

ovin

g th

e ap

plic

atio

n of

req

uire

men

ts a

nd s

urve

illan

ce t

ools

, lik

e th

e R

BC

tre

nd t

est,

that

wer

e no

t de

sign

ed to

app

ly to

run

off

insu

rers

and

can

res

ult i

n co

unte

r in

tuiti

ve o

utco

mes

whe

n ap

plie

d to

them

.

Com

men

t #11

– Pr

oTuc

ket L

icen

sing

Pap

er

Lic

ensi

ng

pape

r -

add

itio

nal i

nfo

rmat

ion

- A

ttac

hm

ent

C

P

roT

ucke

t sha

red

a lic

ensi

ng p

aper

whi

ch is

17

page

s lo

ng. I

t is

in t

he b

usin

ess

proc

ess

of P

roT

ucke

t. It

not

es P

roT

ucke

t t i

s fo

rmed

to

use

prot

ecte

d ce

lls f

or \

ins

uran

ce b

usin

ess

tran

sfer

(“I

BT

”) o

f po

rtfo

lios

of

insu

ranc

e bu

sine

ss a

nd r

elat

ed a

sset

s un

der

the

Rho

de I

slan

d V

olun

tary

Res

truc

turi

ng

of S

olve

nt I

nsur

ers

Act

(19

95),

as

amen

ded.

It n

otes

they

are

see

king

add

ition

al li

cens

es.

Key

rel

evan

t q

uot

es f

rom

th

e pa

per

:

Fut

ure

IBT

s, in

clud

ing

dire

ct a

dmit

ted

com

mer

cial

line

s or

sur

plus

line

s bu

sine

ss, w

ill b

e ef

fect

ed th

roug

h se

para

te p

rote

cted

cel

ls, e

ach

wit

h it

s ow

n de

dica

ted

asse

ts a

nd s

olve

ncy

prot

ectio

ns.

It i

s im

port

ant

to n

ote

that

the

RI

Act

aut

hori

zes

IBT

s on

ly f

or r

eins

uran

ce a

nd c

omm

erci

al l

ines

(in

clud

ing

surp

lus

lines

), i

n ea

ch c

ase

only

if

the

busi

ness

has

bee

n in

run

-off

for

at

leas

t 5

year

s. W

orke

rs’

com

pens

atio

n, l

ong-

term

car

e in

sura

nce

and

othe

r pe

rson

al l

ines

ins

uran

ce (

not

incl

udin

g re

insu

ranc

e) a

nd a

ny o

ther

bus

ines

s cu

rren

tly b

eing

wri

tten

or in

run

-off

for

less

than

5 y

ears

are

not

elig

ible

for

tran

sfer

und

er th

e R

I A

ct.3

Page 12: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Att

ach

men

t A

© 2

019

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of I

nsur

ance

Com

mis

sion

ers

10

Con

tin

ued

com

men

ts –

Pro

Tu

cket

A

ccou

ntin

g T

reat

men

t of

Sep

arat

e C

ells

. A

s no

ted

in t

he “

Pro

Tuc

ket’

s A

pplic

atio

ns”

sect

ion

of t

his

Pap

er,

ProT

ucke

t’s

busi

ness

pla

n is

to

use

prot

ecte

d ce

lls

purs

uant

to

R.I

. G

en.

Law

s se

ctio

n 27

-64-

4 so

as

to p

erm

it IB

Ts

of b

ooks

of

insu

ranc

e bu

sine

ss i

nto

sepa

rate

cel

ls, e

ach

wit

h it

s ow

n de

dica

ted

asse

ts a

nd s

olve

ncy

prot

ecti

ons.

T

here

is

curr

ently

no

dire

ctly

rel

evan

t N

AIC

Sta

tuto

ry A

ccou

ntin

g P

rinc

iple

s (S

AP)

gui

danc

e fo

r se

para

te c

ells

(pr

otec

ted

cells

) as

Pro

Tuc

ket

cont

empl

ates

usi

ng s

uch

cells

or

as t

he R

hode

Isl

and

law

pre

scri

bes.

How

ever

, ex

istin

g S

AP

gui

danc

e fo

und

in S

SAP

No.

74

– In

sura

nce-

Lin

ked

Sec

urit

ies

Issu

ed T

hrou

gh a

Pro

tect

ed C

ell (

SS

AP

74)

and

SS

AP

No.

56

– S

epar

ate

Acc

ount

s (S

SAP

56)

pro

vide

use

ful b

ases

for

the

pres

enta

tion

of

Pro

Tuc

ket’

s pr

otec

ted

cell

fina

ncia

l co

nditi

on a

nd f

or o

ther

wis

e de

velo

ping

the

req

uisi

te a

ccou

ntin

g gu

idan

ce f

or t

he u

se o

f pr

otec

ted

cell

s by

in

sure

rs, s

uch

as P

roT

ucke

t, fo

r its

IB

T b

usin

ess

(i.e

., bu

sine

ss t

hat

does

not

inc

lude

the

iss

uanc

e of

ins

uran

ce-l

inke

d se

curi

ties)

. Pro

Tuc

ket

belie

ves

that

thi

s ex

istin

g gu

idan

ce,

mod

ifie

d, a

s m

ore

fully

dis

cuss

ed i

n A

ppen

dix

B,

is s

uffi

cien

t 1)

to

allo

w t

he R

I D

epar

tmen

t an

d ot

her

insu

ranc

e re

gula

tors

to

reco

gniz

e a

perm

itte

d pr

actic

e fo

r th

e ac

coun

ting

for

prot

ecte

d ce

ll c

ompa

nies

and

pro

tect

ed c

ells

, an

d 2)

for

eve

ntua

l ad

optio

n by

the

N

AIC

or

any

Stat

e as

pre

scri

bed

in S

AP

gui

danc

e on

the

subj

ect.

Com

men

t # 1

1 –

R&

Q S

olut

ions

A

ttach

men

t B

Pag

e 22

In

res

pons

e to

the

belo

w r

eque

st f

or c

omm

ents

, one

item

that

we

have

rai

sed

is th

at th

e O

utw

ards

Ret

roac

tive

fol

low

the

Los

s L

iabi

lity

com

pone

nt o

f th

e R

BC

cal

cula

tion.

Thi

s th

en r

efle

cts

the

net r

eser

ve c

alcu

lati

on f

or R

BC

mor

e ac

cura

tely

eve

n th

ough

the

stat

utor

y st

atem

ents

hav

e th

e re

troa

ctiv

e as

the

wri

te-i

n li

ne.

Thi

s is

an

issu

e w

ith a

dis

conn

ect

of t

he r

etro

activ

e re

insu

ranc

e w

rite

-in

line

(pu

rsua

nt t

o S

SA

P 6

2) a

nd t

he b

alan

ce s

heet

loc

atio

n of

the

inw

ards

re

serv

es w

hich

are

on

the

loss

liab

ility

line

. The

RB

C o

nly

sees

the

loss

liab

ilit

y on

the

Res

erve

RB

C c

alcu

latio

n an

d no

t the

net

impa

ct o

f th

e

retr

oact

ive

prot

ectin

g th

e lo

ss li

abili

ties.

NA

IC s

taff

req

ues

ted

cla

rifi

cati

on :

W

e ca

n ce

rtai

nly

pass

the

com

men

t al

ong,

how

ever

the

reg

ulat

ory

(and

GA

AP

) vi

ew o

f re

troa

ctiv

e re

insu

ranc

e is

tha

t it

is m

ore

akin

to

fina

ncin

g of

a p

ast e

vent

. Thi

s is

the

reas

on th

at th

e re

sults

are

not

ref

lect

ed in

und

erw

ritin

g, b

ut in

stea

d re

flec

ted

in o

ther

inco

me.

R&

Q r

espo

nded

that

: I’

ve a

lway

s un

ders

tood

why

it

was

cre

ated

in

the

90’s

but

with

the

gro

wth

of

the

run-

off

and

lega

cy p

rote

ctio

ns i

n pl

ace

of l

arge

val

ues,

i.e

. re

troa

ctiv

e, t

he c

apit

al v

alua

tion

s ar

e m

isle

adin

g.

Page 13: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup Comment Letters Received

May 23, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMMENTER / DOCUMENT PAGE

REFERENCE

Comment Letters Received for request for comments on charges and the definition of run off companies

1. Connecticut 3

2. Maine 4

3. South Carolina 5

4. Texas 6

5. Vermont 7

6. ACLI 8

7. AIRROC Additional Attachment (7a), Runoff overview slides - additional information – Attachment C and PWC survey - additional information Attachment C

9

8. Patrick Cantilo of Cantilo and Bennett, LLP 12

9. Northwestern Mutual and New York Life 14

10. Nationwide 20

11. ProTucket licensing paper - - additional information Attachment C -

12. R&Q Solutions 22

Attachment B

1 of 22

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Attachment B

2 of 22

Page 15: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

 

 

Connecticut Informal Comments    I thought I would informally send you some quick thoughts. First, I think charge 1 and 2 are very broad and regulators can come up with good best practices based on experience.   Charge #3‐ we should wait for the parent group for clearer guidance because it appears that the charges overlap. My comments are based on charges 1 and 2 at this point.  

1. As  liquidity  is  many  times  the  highest  risk  companies  face  (and  regulator’s  when  faced  with dividend requests) the creation of a “best practices” liquidity report can be created for regulators to use if they choose to. This helps to create continuity around liquidity considerations; 

 2. Monitor  expenses‐  ie  as  companies  continue  to  strive  to  decrease  claims  and  administrative 

expenses‐ how does it affect key personnel and possible outsourcing? This tends to create new operational  risks‐  What  is  the  company  willing  to  give  up  in  order  to  increase  liquidity? (Cost/benefits should be analyzed).  

3. Provide the regulator a list of all pledged assets and possible covenant triggers.  

4. Cash flow analysis through claim payout period.   

 Again, very high level. I think this will be the easy part and will need direction from Working Group after they have sorted through the macro issues.   Kathy Belfi  

   W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\Comments 4‐26‐19\1 ‐ CT comments .docx 

Attachment B

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Page 16: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Informal Comments from Maine    Generally, looks good, but as we’re seeing in the long‐term‐care arena, some runoff companies are still collecting premium and regulators still need to deal with the resulting rating issues, and other actuarial complications relating to estimated premium collections. Also, the financial surveillance tools for runoff companies might also have application to blocks of legacy business in going‐concern companies (and those blocks are often subject to or under consideration for restructuring). So, I would consider changing Charge # 1 to:  

>>> 1. Consider the development of financial surveillance tools that are specifically designed for companies in runoff (companies that are no longer actively writing insurance business) and companies with large blocks of runoff business. 

  Bob Wake    W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\Comments 4‐26‐19\2 ‐ Maine .docx 

 

Attachment B

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Page 17: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

South Carolina comments On behalf of Director Raymond Farmer, South Carolina has no edits or changes to proposed charges for the Restructuring Working Group. We look forward to working with the group on this very important matter. Regards, Joe Cregan Assistant to the Director South Carolina Department of Insurance 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000 Columbia, SC 29201 W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\Comments 4-26-19\3 - SC Comments.docx

Attachment B

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Page 18: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Texas Comments   Please accept the Texas Department of Insurance comments for the Restructuring Mechanism exposure. Texas suggests the following edits to the definition of run‐off: Run off companies are no longer actively writing insurance business or collecting premiums except where required to by law or contract, and have unpaid policyholder liabilities.  Amy Garcia, CFE Chief Analyst – Associate Commissioner Financial Analysis Section   W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\Comments 4‐26‐19\4 ‐ Texas Comments .docx 

 

Attachment B

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Page 19: Doug Stolte/David Smith Co-Chairs (VA) Summary of Comments · Note PowerPoint presentation noted runoff as What is 'Runoff'? Runoff is the term used to broad ly describe the process

Vermont Comments:   Regarding the definition of run‐off insurer, here are a couple of possibilities that might be a useful starting point:  

1) In the captive context, a “run‐off captive insurer” might be defined as “a captive insurer that has not underwritten insurance or reinsurance for at least five years”; and  

2) In the case of Vermont’s Legacy Insurance Management Act, while it does not define “run‐off companies”, it does define “closed blocks” that can be transferred/assumed, as follows: 

 “‘Closed block’ means a block, line, or group of commercial non‐admitted insurance policies or reinsurance agreements or both: (A) which a transferring insurer has ceased to offer, write, or sell to new applicants; (B) for which all policy periods have been fully expired for not less than 60 months; (C) for which active premiums are no longer being paid; and (D) which is not workers’ compensation, health, life, or any other personal line of insurance.” 

 Thanks much, Dan  Dan Raddock Assistant General Counsel Vermont Department of Financial Regulation  89 Main Street Montpelier, VT 05620‐3101   W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\Comments 4‐26‐19\5 ‐ VT Comments.docx 

 

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April 26, 2019

Co-Chairs Doug Stolte (VA) and David Smith (VA)

Vice-Chair Jack Broccoli (RI)

Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup

National Association of Insurance Commissioners

2301 McGee Street, Suite 800

Kansas City, MO 64108

RE: Subgroup Charges and Definition of Run-Off

Dear Messrs. Stolte, Smith and Broccoli:

The American Council of Life Insurers (“ACLI”)1 looks forward to working with the Restructuring

Mechanisms Subgroup as it addresses its charges relating to restructuring mechanisms and “runoffs”

during the next few months.

We do, however, have concerns with the proposed definition of “run-off companies” that is contained

in the first charge (on the development of financial surveillance tools) and in “II-Definition of Run-

Off”. In both instances, “run-off companies” are defined as “companies that are no longer actively

writing insurance business or collecting premiums”.

While we are not able to provide you with an alternative definition at this time, we do note that,

traditionally, some companies that are considered to be in “run-off” continue to collect premiums. We

will be offering our perspectives and suggestions on this definition as the Subgroup continues its

important work.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 202-624-2135.

Sincerely,

Wayne Mehlman

Senior Counsel, Insurance Regulation

1 The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) advocates on behalf of 280 member companies dedicated to

providing products and services that promote consumers’ financial and retirement security. 90 million American

families depend on our members for life insurance, annuities, retirement plans, long-term care insurance,

disability income insurance, reinsurance, dental and vision and other supplemental benefits. ACLI represents

member companies in state, federal and international forums for public policy that supports the industry

marketplace and the families that rely on life insurers’ products for peace of mind. ACLI members represent 95

percent of industry assets in the United States. Learn more at www.acli.com.

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Leveraging Legacy Liabilities

Carolyn W. Fahey Executive Director

15220 Lord Culpeper Court Woodbridge, Virginia 22911

Phone: 703-730-2808 Mobile: 703-740-7527

E-Mail: [email protected]: www.airroc.org

April 26, 2019

Doug Stolte and David Smith, Chairs Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup

Dan Daveline and Robin Marcotte National Association of Insurance Commissioners

Please find attached a submission on behalf of AIRROC (the Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Runoff Companies) in response to the request for comments from the Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup.

The size of the global runoff market is $370 billion with $350 billion of that in the United States. AIRROC is the only U.S. non-profit organization representing the legacy insurance market. These materials are submitted for education purposes only to provide some background and context for the Subgroup on runoff and the runoff market.

Materials submitted:

1. A recording of a webinar titled "Overview of Runoff “ that was presented by AIRROC on February 6, 2019. It can beviewed at: https://vimeo.com/316097460/5beab583dc The slides from this session have been placed in a Dropbox foraccess due to the size of the file.

2. The 2018 PwC - AIRROC - IRLA Global Insurance Runoff Survey. This can be accessed on the PwC websiteat: https://www.pwc.com/globalinsurancerunoffsurvey A PDF of this survey is also attached to this email.

AIRROC is pleased to be an educational resource to the Subgroup as well as the full Working Group. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or would like further information from us.

Respectfully Submitted,

Carolyn W. Fahey Executive Director

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Leveraging Legacy Liabilities

Carolyn W. Fahey Executive Director

Phone: 703-730-2808 Mobile: 703-740-7527

E-Mail: [email protected] Web: www.airroc.org

SubmissiontotheNAICRestructuringMechanismsSubgroupApril26,2019

WhatisRunoff?Thedefinitionsofrunoffvarygreatlybycompanyandevenchangeovertimeduetofactorssuchaschangesinunderwritingcycle,profitability,reinsuranceavailability,interestratesandstructurestoadminister.Inarecentsurveyofthemarketrespondentswereasked“Howdoesyourorganizationdefinerunoffbusiness?”Sampleresponsesinclude:•“Alllinesofbusinesswherepremiumsarenolongerbeingwritten.”•“Anydiscontinuedlineofbusiness.”•“Businessthatisbeingwounddownandnolongerunderwritten.”•“Closedbookofbusinesswithnomoreunderwriting.”•“2001andprior.”•“Discontinuedcompanies,affiliatesorsegments.”•“Non-coretothegroup.”•“Nonewwrittenbusiness.”TheRiskBasedCapitalRequirementandRunoffTheimpactoftheRBConrunoffdependsonthedefinitionofrunoff.UsingthegeneraldefinitionthattherunoffmarketiscomprisedofA&Eliabilitiesthatresidemostlyinprioraccidentyearsandthatretroactivereinsuranceisoftenusedtomanagedtheseexposures,theRBCmaynotbesuitabletoevaluatingtheirrisk.TheNAICRiskBasedCapitalRequirementattemptstosummarizeseveralareasofaninsurer'sriskintoasinglevalueandtheformularesultshavespecificactionsassociatedwiththem.ThesixCategoriesofCapitalChargesare:R0 InvestmentinAffiliatesandOffBalanceSheetRisksR1 FixedIncomeChargeR2 EquityChargeR3 Reinsurance/CreditRiskChargeR4 ReservingRiskChargeR5 Premium/UnderwritingRiskCharge

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Leveraging Legacy Liabilities

Carolyn W. Fahey Executive Director

4927 Wolf Run Shoals Road Woodbridge, Virginia 22912

Phone: 703-730-2808 Mobile: 703-740-7527

E-Mail: [email protected] Web: www.airroc.org

TheRBCrequirementiscalculatedasR0+SQRT((R1^2)+(R2^2)+((.5*R3)^2)+((.5*R3+R4)^2)+(R5^2)TheRBCRatioiscalculatedasAdjustedSurplus/RBCRequirement.ForRunoffCompanies,thosenolongeractivelywritingnewbusiness,theR4ReservingRiskChargedominatesthecalculation.TheRBCapproachofusingthelatest10accidentyearsmaynotbesuitableforevaluatingthisriskofrunoffcompaniesforthefollowingreasons:

a)InmanyofthesecompaniestheliabilitiesarecomprisedofA&EandmatureWCliabilitiesthatresideinprioraccidentyears;thereforetheRBCapproachtousingthelatest10yearsmaybenotappropriateforevaluatingthisriskasliabilitiesoftenresideinaccidentyearsbeyondthelatest10years,andb)Retroactivereinsuranceiscommonlyusedintherun-offspace,andsincethesecontractsarenotrequiredtobereportedinScheduleP,theRBCapproachthatutilizesSchedulePdatamaynotbepracticalinevaluatingtheirrisk.

ThePremium/UnderwritingRiskCharge,R5,ismuchlessofariskareaforRunoffCompanies.Specificitems,likethecollectionofpremiumonretrospectivelyratedpolicesmaycausedistortionsinthecalculationofExcessivePremiumGrowthchargesandCombinedratiotriggerswithoutanychangeintheriskprofileofthecompany.WiththeincreaseduseofInsuranceBusinessTransfersandRetroactiveReinsurance,themostcriticalissueforRunoffCompaniesistheavailabilityofcashandliquidassetstosatisfypolicyholderclaimsandotherobligations.Itmaybeprudentfortheregulatortoseparatelyconsidersignificantamountsofretroactivereinsurance(currentlyoutsideoftheRBCformula)whendeterminingarunoffcompany'scapitalrequirements.

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CANTILO & BENNETT, L.L.P.ATTORNEYS & COUNSELORS

A Texas Registered Limited Liability Partnership

Comprised of Professional Corporations

11401 Century Oaks Terrace

Suite 300

Telephone: (512) 478-6000 Austin, Texas 78758 Facsimile: (512) 404-6550

www.cb-firm.com

April 23, 2019

Mr. Douglas C. StolteMr. David SmithCo-ChairsRestructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroupvia Dan Daveline and Robin MarcotteNAIC Staff

RE: Request for Comments

Dear Messrs. Stolte and Smith:

I write solely on my own behalf and the views I express are not intended to reflect those ofany client or other interested party. As you know, I have spent the last four decades working ininsurance regulation, primarily on behalf of state insurance officials in matters affecting troubledinsurance companies and complex insurance transactions. My views are informed by that experienceand I disclose that my bias favors protection of policyholder interests and the state-based regulatorysystem. I offer two comments relevant to the Subgroup’s current deliberations. The first addressesthe definition of runoff company and the second the role of certain restructuring mechanisms.

It is suggested that “runoff companies” exclude those that are collecting premium. I submitthat doing so would be inconsistent with economic reality. There are in existence many “closedblocks” and other entities comprised solely of “legacy” or existing business much or all whichcontinues to pay premium though they can be fairly characterized as being in runoff. Notable currentexamples are those of well-known long-term care insurance blocks. Certain companies holding theseblocks typically do not seek to write new business and their role is solely to manage an existing bookof liabilities to expiration. I propose that the term “runoff company” be defined as “an entity whosesole material business is the management in accordance with contractual and regulatoryobligations of an existing group of insurance policies or contracts through their termination.”

Recently there has been much talk throughout many NAIC committees, working groups, andtask forces of relatively new alternative mechanisms for the management of legacy blocks and otherspecial transactional needs. Notable examples are Insurance Business Transfers (“IBT”) andcorporate division statutes. While these and similar mechanisms can serve useful purposes forsolvent insurers and reinsurers in several types of circumstances, they should not be confused withtools for addressing financially troubled companies. A common element of such transactions is that

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Cantilo Letter to Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup April 23, 2019, page 2

they do not add new value. They are not investment vehicles and, properly used, do not increaseassets or reduce liabilities. Rather, these types of transactions enable an enterprise to segregate adiscrete group of liabilities (like a legacy long-term care insurance block) and place them either innewly created isolated entities (as through a corporate division) or in separate existing entities (asthough and IBT).

In their pure form, such transactions do not improve the economic health of the block atissue. Of course, such transactions could be made part of a more comprehensive arrangement thatcan have that effect, such as an IBT or corporate division that also includes the contribution ofadditional capital devoted to the block in question. It has been observed that these new mechanismsare simply new ways of accomplishing goals that have been possible through other mechanisms likeloss portfolio transfers and assumption reinsurance transactions. That may be the case but does notsuggest that the additional flexibility of new potential structures cannot add value. My cautionwould be simply that these are not tools that can improve materially our ability to cope with troubledcompanies. They can be combined with such tools (like capital infusions or new reinsurance thatincludes material risk transfer) but by themselves do not relieve financial trouble.

I would be pleased to answer any questions about my comments.

Respectfully yours,

Patrick H. Cantilo

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BY E-MAIL April 26, 2019 Doug Stolte David Smith Co-Chairs, NAIC Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup Attention: Dan Daveline ([email protected])

Robin Marcotte ([email protected]) Re: The Restructuring Mechanism Subgroup’s Charges Dear Messrs. Stolte and Smith, The undersigned companies are grateful for the opportunity to comment on the charges of the Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Subgroup. In general, we strongly support the subgroup’s charges. While we endorse all the charges, we ask that the subgroup give special emphasis to the development of uniform minimum standards for restructuring mechanisms. The Importance of Strong, Uniform Standards for Divisions and Business Transfers Several states have recently enacted new “division” and “insurance business transfer” laws that allow insurers to transfer and novate business without policyholder consent. While these laws offer new flexibility to companies and regulators, they also introduce new dangers for policyholders and the state-based system of insurance regulation. Because we believe there are existing alternatives that provide sufficient flexibility in nearly all circumstances and because we want to maintain policyholder protections, our strong preference is against the enactment or use of division and insurance business transfer statutes for life, annuity or health insurance. However, recognizing that regulators may wish to find a way to permit, in limited circumstances, transactions that are beneficial to all policyholders, our comments in this letter address the minimum standards required if life, annuity or health divisions or transfers are to be considered. Unlike traditional indemnity reinsurance, where the original insurer remains liable, these new structures allow the original insurer to extinguish liability to policyholders. We have grave concerns about several aspects of these new laws:

There is no nationally uniform financial standard or actuarial level of confidence for regulators to apply when reviewing the financial strength of a business included in a division or transfer. A strong, nationally uniform standard is necessary to ensure that policyholders are protected against the risk of insolvency. This standard should become an NAIC accreditation requirement. The development of this standard should be a critical area of focus for the subgroup.

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In some states, division and insurance business transfer laws are open to any line of business, even when it is difficult or impossible to arrive at a credible long-term valuation of the business involved. For example, a division could allocate distressed, hard-to-value long-term care liabilities to a newly created splinter company. In this scenario, healthier business and associated assets might remain with the original company, endangering policyholders relegated to the splinter company.

Some laws also allow the creation of monoline insurers, potentially depriving policyholders of the benefits of diversification without their consent.

Some laws also allow the division of a multi-state insurer into a splinter company licensed in a single state, potentially overwhelming the state’s domestic guaranty association in the event of insolvency.

Some laws sanction the use of non-admitted assets to support policy liabilities.

Several laws lack other important procedural and substantive safeguards like public notice, requirements to consult with other interested states, independent expert review, a hearing or court process, and requirements to assess corporate governance and owner qualifications.

At their worst, these new laws could enable transactions that enrich shareholders at the expense of policyholders, guaranty associations and the reputations of both the industry and state-based system of insurance regulation. Effective, nationally uniform oversight of solvency has long been a hallmark of state-based insurance regulation. It is essential that the NAIC act to preserve this strength of the state-based system. These new transaction structures must not be allowed to undermine fundamental solvency regulation and policyholder protections. We expect that the subgroup’s work will be a critical part of this effort. In the discussion below, we suggest several principles that should govern regulatory review of proposed division and business transfer transactions. Policyholders Should Never Be Left Worse Off Regulators should never approve a division or insurance business transfer if it would leave any class of policyholders worse off. Instead, policyholders should be left in the same or a better position after completion of the transaction. Before the regulator signs off, a valuation should be undertaken by an expert to establish at a high level of confidence that policyholders will experience no adverse effects. The expert should be independent of any influence from the companies involved. This approach would align the U.S. regulatory framework with well-established international precedents like the United Kingdom’s “Part VII” business transfer regime. A focus on policyholder protection has been fundamental to the success of the U.K. regime. In a Part VII transaction, the regulator must provide a detailed report to the court and certify the solvency of the resulting entity. An independent expert must also provide a detailed report. When there are

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questions about the strength of the business involved, the U.K. regulators and the court will normally insist on ensuring that the business is transferred to a stronger insurer, not isolated in a weaker insurer. Some state laws provide that a regulator should approve a division or business transfer if there is no “material adverse effect” on policyholders. This standard falls far short of what should be required. The standard endorses policyholder harm so long as the harm does not rise to a vaguely defined materiality threshold. For example, a transaction might accomplish nothing more than benefit shareholders at the expense of policyholders. Although the damage to policyholders may not rise to the level of a “material adverse effect,” the law should not call on the regulator to approve unless the effect on policyholders is neutral or there is some expected policyholder benefit. No Monolines Regulators should never permit a transaction that transforms a diversified insurance company into one or more monoline insurers, especially when the transaction involves long-duration life, annuity or health insurance business. It makes little sense to deprive policyholders the benefits of diversification. The wisdom of this principle is borne out by the recent experience of carriers like Penn Treaty that concentrated their offerings in long-term care insurance. Hard-to-Value Business Like LTC Should Be Ineligible for Division or Transfer It is important that standards for approval acknowledge fundamental differences among lines of business. A standard that may be appropriate for short-duration commercial property and casualty risks is likely to need significant adjustments before it can be applied successfully to long-duration retail life, annuity and health businesses. As a threshold matter, some lines of business are best excluded from division and business transfer transactions. Long-term care offers the best example. The history of reserve deficiencies, rate increases and, in some cases, insolvencies, associated with this product demonstrates the challenges of arriving at satisfactory valuations. Given this history and the long duration of the liabilities, it is clear to us that long-term care blocks should not be separated from other businesses that provide financial stability and diversification for the entity overall. The experience of long-term care leads us to suggest the following possible approach to similar long-duration life and health businesses: for each such business, the regulator should be able to confirm the sufficiency of assets supporting the liabilities based on a reasonable valuation relative to an industry standard of experience. To make this determination, the Commissioner should first compare the valuation of liabilities to what the valuation would be using standardized valuation tables adopted by the NAIC for each line of business. If such standardized valuation tables are not available, the business should not be eligible for division or transfer.

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Require Strong Financial Standards and Stress Testing for Long-Duration Business Even if a long-duration life or health business is eligible for inclusion in a transaction, regulators will still need a robust framework to evaluate the long-term solvency of the business. Regulators should consider the following principles in the development of this framework:

For long-duration life, annuity and health business, regulators should start with a focus on policy reserves, and should require stress testing of reserves at a “severely adverse” level. If reserves are not subjected to a high level of stress testing, a division or transfer may appear to leave a business adequately capitalized at the time of the transaction. However, the picture can change over time as long-term experience diverges from assumptions. Again, consider the recent experience of long-term care.

Starting from a basis of reserves meeting a “severely adverse” standard, formulaic application of risk-based capital will, appropriately, result in a higher level of required capital for the business affected by the division or transfer. However, while risk-based capital may provide a useful starting point to establish capital requirements, it is not designed to measure relative financial strength and therefore would be insufficient on its own to determine the minimum required financial position of a transferred business.

Instead, in addition to risk-based capital, regulators should explore capital standards for long-duration life and health business that are based on a defined ratio of asset adequacy standards. Capital standards based on this type of cash flow projection technique can help ensure that enough capital is held in a transferred business, supplementing the existing risk-based capital framework.

Regulators should establish a confidence level based on the greatest present value of accumulated deficiencies over a long-term horizon across stochastic scenarios. The confidence level should be set at a standard that assures solvency over the life of the business so as to provide a robust backstop to the combination of reserves established to meet a “severely adverse” standard and risk-based capital.

Prescribed assumptions should be included in capital calculations to avoid the manipulation of capital thresholds.

Actuarial reserve and capital calculations should be performed by an expert that is independent of the insurance companies involved.

Use Uniform NAIC Valuation and Accounting Standards When evaluating the solvency impact of a proposed transaction, regulators should not give credit for non-admitted assets. Decisions about these transactions should start from the NAIC’s uniform statutory valuation and accounting rules. The possibility that non-admitted assets might be used to back reserves and capital in these transactions is deeply troubling for the following reasons:

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Most non-admitted assets are classified that way because they are not readily available to

satisfy policyholder claims.

Put another way, many non-admitted assets are not readily marketable or do not produce future cash flows.

Non-admitted assets can include anything a company owns, from illiquid and contingent letters of credit to office furniture, equipment, hardware and software.

It makes sense to exclude these items from the pool of assets an insurance company can count toward the payment of future claims, as they are illiquid, unlikely to retain their value, and generally do not produce additional income.

The distinction between admitted and non-admitted assets should not change in the context of a division or business transaction. In fact, given the risk that companies will use restructuring mechanisms to wall off distressed businesses, it is especially important that regulators scrutinize the quality of the assets involved.

Minimum Requirements Should Become NAIC Accreditation Standards Ultimately, it will be essential that the NAIC establish strong minimum requirements for these transactions as accreditation standards. The strength of state-based system depends upon the integrity of solvency regulation across the country. Regulators will need to rely on their counterparts in other states to ensure that transferred businesses are uniformly supported by sufficient reserves and capital, and are run off in a solvent manner. Companies should not be allowed to arbitrage their way to diminished solvency oversight by choosing one domicile over another. Other Procedural Safeguards Are Also Important In this letter, we have focused primarily on the financial standards that should apply to divisions and insurance business transfers. We expect those standards will be a significant focus of the subgroup. However, there are other procedural safeguards that are equally important for these transactions. For example, since policyholders lose their normal right to consent, court oversight and approval should be required. Policyholders and other affected parties should always be given notice, access to all information needed to meaningfully review a proposed transaction, and an opportunity to be heard in court. Also, the process should require approval or non-objection of all affected states and the resulting entities should be licensed in all states needed so as not to impair policyholders’ access to their state guaranty associations. We believe these protections should also be considered for accreditation requirements. We look forward to providing our views on this and other procedural safeguards to the Restructuring Mechanisms (E) Working Group.

* * *

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We appreciate the opportunity to comment on this important topic. Please let us know if you need any additional information or would like to discuss. Sincerely,

Douglas A. Wheeler Senior Vice President, Office of Governmental Affairs New York Life Insurance Company

 Andrew T. Vedder Vice President – Solvency Policy & Risk Management The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company

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 R&Q Solutions Comments    Dear Mr. Daveline and Ms. Marcotte,  In response to the below request for comments, one item that we have raised is that the Outwards Retroactive follow the Loss Liability component of the RBC calculation. This then reflects the net reserve calculation for RBC more accurately even though the statutory statements have the retroactive as the write‐in line.  Thank you,  Stephen Parisi Senior Litigation Counsel U.S. Insurance Services Division R&Q Solutions LLC   NAIC Staff requested clarification   

Thanks, for the comments, however, I am not sure I am completely following your comments below. Would you perhaps, elaborate a bit more? 

Robin Marcotte | Senior Manager Accounting  

R&Q Response   This is an issue with a disconnect of the retroactive reinsurance write‐in line (pursuant to SSAP 62) and the balance sheet location of the inwards reserves which are on the loss liability line. The RBC only sees the loss liability on the Reserve RBC calculation and not the net impact of the retroactive protecting the loss liabilities.  Pamela Sellers‐Hoelsken President  U.S. Insurance Services Division R&Q Solutions LLC Two Logan Square, Suite 600  W:\National Meetings\2019\Summer\Cmte\E\Restructuring\Subgroup\Comments 4‐26‐19\12 ‐ R&Q Solutions.docx 

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