NAII To Host OFAC Reg. Conference

NU Online News Service, June 13, 1:30 p.m. EST?The National Association of Independent Insurers and Chicago-based law firm Lord, Bissell and Brook will host an industry-wide information conference, June 20, to discuss compliance concerns with a federal regulation that lists foreign entities with which insurance companies can no longer transact business.

A representative from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control will address the practical application of OFAC's regulation to insurers, according to NAII. The representative also will participate in a roundtable discussion to address concerns with complying with the regulations.

"I expect this seminar will enable insurance companies to obtain some answers from the Treasury Department regarding the problems our industry is facing with OFAC's foreign business transactions bans," said Kathleen Jensen, NAII insurance services counsel.

President Bush issued an executive order, Sept. 24, 2001, that mandates that U.S. underwriters, brokers, agents, primary insurers, reinsurers and U.S. citizen employees of foreign firms in the industry are prohibited from engaging in transactions with individuals, government entities, officials and companies from Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba or the Taliban in Afghanistan. The order also includes companies organized or controlled in Cuba; Cuban citizens; and other individuals, entities or vessels appearing on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list.

According to regulations, all property, including insurance contracts in which there is a direct or indirect interest in the entities, is to be blocked or "frozen."

The conference, which will take place at NAII headquarters in Des Plaines, Ill., will address procedural issues that have surfaced for insurance companies from OFAC's regulation, including the inability of an insurance company to cancel a policy mid-term with an individual on the OFAC list, per state insurance regulations, and the uncertainty of individuals insured under a reinsurance contract or who purchased a policy over the Internet.

Names and entities continue to be added to the OFAC list, and are available for review from the OFAC Web site at http://www.treas.gov/ofac.

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NAII To Host OFAC Reg. Conference

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