Suitability Agent Continuing Education Requirements by State

Transcription

1 Suitability Agent Continuing Education Requirements by State STATE AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID Insurance producers holding a life line of insurance license must complete a one-time 4 hour annuity training course approved by the Alaska Department. Requirement satisfied if insurance producer has satisfied substantially similar training requirements of another state. The Department feels that it should revise the Section of Rule 82 in order to be more consistent with other states and include a better annuity training requirement. Since this process may take several months, the Department will no longer enforce the provision of Section 9 of Rule 82. Until Rule 82 is revised, the four (4) hour annual annuity training will no longer be required. All resident and non-resident agents selling annuities must complete the California 8-Hour Annuity Training course. Thereafter, any resident or non-resident life producer who solicits individual consumers in order to sell annuities must complete a 4-hour specifically designated annuity training course every two years prior to license renewal. This requirement is part of, and not in addition to, the general continuing education requirements in California. Non-residents otherwise exempt from continuing education requirements are not exempt from annuities training. Producers selling annuity products must complete 4 hours of one-time training in annuities by 10/1/2011. The annuity training course shall qualify for four credits, but no more than four. The satisfaction of another state's training requirement by a Connecticut non-resident producer will be deemed to satisfy the training requirements of this State if such other state's requirements are substantially similar to those contained in the Regulation. The producer may be asked by the insurer to provide a certificate of completion of the training course. Producers who sell or wish to sell annuities must complete 4 hours of one-time training in annuities. Agents licensed to sell life insurance must complete at least 3 hours of continuing education in suitability in annuity and life insurance transactions each continuing education compliance period. Licensees may use these hours to satisfy their ethics continuing education requirements. An agent with a compliance period that ends on or after January 31, 2009 must meet this requirement by the end of the compliance period. If an agent has already taken hours in ethics, those credits will be applied to the agent s general continuing education requirement or will be carried over to the next compliance period. Producers who obtain a life license on or after 1/31/2012 and wish to sell annuity products must complete this training before selling annuity products. Producer must also complete product-specific training offered by insurer. All currently licensed Idaho producers must complete a one-time four-hour CE credit training course approved by the Department and provided by a Department-approved education provider. Producers that have not completed at least one four-hour CE credit training course approved by the Department must complete the required course by October 4, Producers may satisfy the requirement if they have completed a substantially similar course in another state. Producers licensed on or after October 4, 2013 must complete this training prior to selling, soliciting, or negotiating such products. CE REQ 05/2013 AGENCY@GUGGENHEIMPARTNERS.COM PHONE FACSIMILE PAGE 1 OF 5

2 IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI Producers must complete this training before selling annuity products. Resident and non-resident producers may Producer must also complete product-specific training offered by insurer. Producers who wish to sell annuity products must complete 4 hours of one-time training in annuities before selling annuity products. All insurance producers selling or soliciting Annuity Products in Iowa must obtain 4 hours of training provided by an approved vendor offering an Annuity Product Course. This is a one-time requirement and is not a condition of license renewal. Non-resident producers may complete substantially similar training requirements of another state in order to meet the requirement. This requirement is separate from the Indexed Products. All insurance producers selling or soliciting Indexed Products in Iowa must obtain 4 continuing education credits by an approved vendor offering an Indexed Product Course. This is a one-time requirement and is not a condition of license renewal. Effective June 1, 2013: All producers currently licensed to sell, solicit, and negotiate annuity products must complete a one-time 4 credit training course approved by the department of insurance and provided by the department of insurance-approved education provider by December 1, All producers licensed after June 1, 2013 must complete this training prior to selling, soliciting, or negotiating such products. The satisfaction of training requirements of another state that are substantially similar shall be deemed to satisfy the training requirements. Producers must complete the four hour training before selling annuities. Producers may complete equivalent annuity training in any state. An insurance producer who engages in the sale of annuity products shall complete a one-time four-credit training course approved by the Department of Insurance and provided by an educator who has been approved by the Department of Insurance. 2) The minimum length of the training required pursuant to this Subsection shall be sufficient to qualify for at least four continuing education credits, but may be longer. 3) The training required pursuant to this Subsection shall include information on the following topics: (a) the types of annuities and various classifications of annuities; (b) identification of the parties to an annuity; (c) a description of how fixed, variable, and indexed annuity contract provisions affect consumers; (d) the application of income taxation of qualified and nonqualified annuities; (e) the primary use of annuities, and (f) appropriate sales practices, replacement, and disclosure requirements. Producers must complete this training before selling annuity products. Compliance with another state's Maryland's training requirement. Producer must also complete product-specific training offered by insurer. All licensed insurance producers, regardless of age, are required to comply with Maryland s continuing education requirements. Actively licensed insurance producers who are age 70 & above as of 4/30/2013 will be grandfathered in. Effective June 1, 2013: All producers currently licensed to sell, solicit, and negotiate annuity products must complete a one-time annuity training course approved for at least 4 hours by December 1, All producers licensed on or after June 1, 2013 must complete this training prior to selling, soliciting, or negotiating such products. CE REQ 05/2013 AGENCY@GUGGENHEIMPARTNERS.COM PHONE FACSIMILE PAGE 2 OF 5

3 MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NM NC ND OH OK OR PA RI Effective June 1, 2013: An insurance producer who is otherwise entitled to engage in the sale of annuity products shall complete a one-time 4 credit training course approved by the commissioner and provided by a continuing education provider approved by the commissioner prior to commencing the transaction of annuities. Insurance producers who hold a life insurance line of authority on the effective date and who desire to sell annuities shall complete the requirements no later than six months after January 1, Individuals who obtain a life insurance line of authority on or after January 1, 2014, may not engage in the sale of annuities until the annuity training course has been completed. An insurance producer shall not solicit the sale of an annuity product unless they have adequate knowledge of the product and are in compliance with the insurer s standards for product training. Effective September 1, 2013: All producers currently licensed to sell, solicit, and negotiate annuity products must complete a one-time annuity training course approved for at least 4 hours by September 1, All producers licensed on or after September 1, 2013 must complete this training prior to selling, soliciting, or negotiating such products. Nonresidents who satisfy the training requirements of another state that are substantially similar shall be deemed to satisfy the training requirements. Effective 1/1/2013 An insurance producer who engages in the sale of annuity products shall complete a one-time four-credit training course approved by the Department of Insurance and provided by a department-approved education provider and an insurance producer shall not solicit the sale of an annuity product unless the insurance producer has adequate knowledge of the product to recommend the annuity and the insurance producer is in compliance with the insurer's standards for product training. An insurance producer may rely on insurer-provided product-specific training standards and materials to comply with this subsection. Producers must complete 4 hour training before selling annuity products. Compliance with another state's North Dakota's training requirement. Producer must also complete product-specific training offered by insurer. Producers must complete the training before selling annuities. Non-resident producers may complete equivalent annuity training in any state. 4 hour annuity training requirement for producers selling annuities is now applicable to resident and nonresident producers. The Insurance Department will allow a 90 day grace period for nonresident producers to comply. Those producers who have satisfied an annuity training requirement in another state with substantially similar provisions as the Oklahoma rule will be deemed to satisfy the Oklahoma requirement, according to the notice. CE REQ 05/2013 AGENCY@GUGGENHEIMPARTNERS.COM PHONE FACSIMILE PAGE 3 OF 5

4 SC Resident and non-resident producers may The training required under this subsection shall include at a minimum information on the following topics: (a) The types of annuities and various classifications of annuities; (b) Identification of the parties to an annuity; (c) How fixed, variable and indexed annuity contract provisions affect consumers; (d) The application of income taxation of qualified and non-qualified annuities; (e) The primary uses of annuities; and (f) Regulatory requirements relating to sales practices, replacement and disclosure requirements. Additional topics may be offered in conjunction with and in addition to the required outline. SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY An insurance producer who engages in the sale of annuity products shall complete a one-time four credit training course approved by the director and provided by a director-approved education provider. Any insurance producer who holds a life insurance line of authority on the effective date of this Act and who desires to sell annuities shall complete the requirements of this section within six months after the effective date of this Act. Legislation Pending. A resident agent with a license issued or renewed on or after 4/1/2010 who intends to sell, solicit, or negotiate a contract for an annuity or to represent an insurer in relation to such an annuity must complete at least 4 hours of training relating to annuities before soliciting individual consumers for the purpose of selling annuities. The training may be used to satisfy continuing education requirements. Agents must also complete 4 hours of CE annually that specifically relate to annuities. CE exemptions based on 20 years continuous licensing do not apply to annuities training requirements. A producer may not solicit the sale of an annuity product unless the producer has adequate knowledge of the product to recommend the annuity and the producer is in compliance with the insurer's standards for product training. Beginning January 1, 2013: All resident insurance agents subject to Virginia insurance CE are required to complete three CE hours of insurance ethics in lieu of the previously required two hours of insurance law and regulations. These three credit hours of insurance ethics may include insurance law and regulations applicable in Virginia. The deadline for completing all coursework and paying the nonrefundable $15 Continuance fee for the bienniums is November 30, Prior to selling, soliciting, or negotiating the sale of annuity products, all insurance producers must complete a one-time, four-hour training course approved by the commissioner and provided by an insurance education provider approved in this state. Insurance producers who have completed the annuity suitability training requirements of this section in a state other than Washington which has adopted the annuity suitability requirement prior to March 29, 2012, are deemed to have satisfied the training requirements of this section. Producers must complete this training before selling annuity products. Compliance with another state's West Virginia's training requirement. Producer must also complete product-specific training offered by insurer. Intermediaries who wish to sell annuities must complete 4 hours of one-time training in annuities. Intermediaries must complete the training before selling annuities. Non-resident producers may complete substantially similar training requirements of another state in order to meet the requirement. CE REQ 05/2013 AGENCY@GUGGENHEIMPARTNERS.COM PHONE FACSIMILE PAGE 4 OF 5

5 The NAIC Recommendation The Financial Reform Act requires individual states to comply with the 2010 NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (NAIC 2010) by June 16, Passage of NAIC 2010 means that fixed annuity producers will have to follow similar rigorous suitability standards as those imposed upon variable annuity producers, which is regulated by FINRA. NAIC 2010 clarifies that the insurer is responsible for compliance with suitability requirements, including the methods their producers use to market annuity products. The producer must have reasonable grounds to believe that the annuity recommendation is suitable based on 12 areas of suitability information disclosed by the consumer. This information includes the consumer s: (1) Age; (2) Annual income; (3) Financial situation and needs, including the financial resources used for the funding of the annuity; (4) Financial experience; (5) Financial objectives; (6) Intended use of the annuity; (7) Financial time horizon; (8) Existing assets, including investment and life insurance holdings; (9) Liquidity needs; (10) Liquid net worth; (11) Risk tolerance; and (12) Tax status. CE REQ 05/ PHONE FACSIMILE PAGE 5 OF 5