N.Y. Dept. Details SVO Streamlining Plan
By Jim Connolly
NU Online News Service, March 11, 3:20 p.m. EST ?Atlanta -The New York insurance department has offered a plan for streamlining the work of the Securities Valuation Office, an arm of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
During the spring NAIC meeting here, the four-part plan was detailed to a very receptive industry.
The plan calls for exempting all NAIC 1- and 2-rated securities, which are investment grade and rated by rating agencies.
A 45-day exposure period is anticipated with possible implementation as early as the summer NAIC meeting in June.
The second point in the plan would be to establish a procedure of utilization of resources for research.
More long-term goals include exempting all securities rated by a rating agency from filing and considering alternatives for the filing of securities that are not rated by rating agencies.
The announcement was praised by the American Council of Life Insurers, the National Association of Independent Insurers, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, the Alliance of American Insurers, and the National Association of Life Companies.
New York Superintendent Greg Serio told attendees at the SVO session that "it provides an opportunity to take a powerful tool and make it more powerful."
The changes will be revenue neutral, he added. These steps will offer the "freedom to reshape the SVO."
Such changes have been discussed since 1999, when a study was prepared to see how the operation could be made more efficient.
NAIC Executive Director Cathy Weatherford said that she had just received the proposal and had not had time to evaluate it to make sure that it would be revenue neutral to the NAIC.
Jim Connolly is a Senior Editor for National Underwriter's Life & Health/Financial Services Edition.
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