For
Immediate Release
NAIC WAIVES
$790,000 INDUSTRY ASSESSMENT FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE
YEAR
KANSAS CITY, MO (March 1, 2006)
- The National
Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) announced today that,
for the second consecutive year, the second installment of the 2005
fixed fee assessment for the NAIC's Securities Valuation Office
("SVO") will be waived. The assessment, totaling $1.58 million for the 2005 filing
year, is related to a revenue-neutral policy agreement between the
insurance industry and state insurance regulators made in September
2003.
Under the
agreement, the industry would be exempt from filing Nationally
Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO)-equivalent
securities with the SVO effective January 1, 2004. This agreement was
implemented on a "revenue-neutral" basis to offset lost SVO revenue
from these exempt securities. The agreement called upon the industry to pay a fixed
assessment of $1.58 million in 2005 based proportionately on each
company's holdings of non-government bonds and preferred stocks
limited to companies with a minimum $1 billion of these
holdings.
"We are pleased to withdraw the second
half of the 2005 assessment," said Catherine J. Weatherford,
Executive Vice President and CEO. "While we continue to
educate the industry concerning the filing exemption rule, we did
receive some exempt filings. However, much of this year's results
reflect the SVO's efficient completion of carryover and current year
securities filings. With little carryover in the current year, we
anticipate a leveling in the assessment for
2006."
The mutual agreement called for the NAIC
to adjust the 2005 assessment as a result of variances between
actual 2005 non-NRSRO rated filing volumes and the volumes projected
as part of the September 2003 agreement. The non-NRSRO filing fee
revenue anticipated and budgeted for 2005 totaled $4.3
million.
"The NAIC will write to inform each
affected company of the assessment waiver," said Alessandro Iuppa,
NAIC President and Maine Insurance Superintendent. "We are pleased to be able
to reduce the assessment as a result of 2005 filing volumes. We are most pleased with the
continued efficiencies gained at the SVO during 2005 that help make
a direct and significant impact on the industry. These efficiencies speak to
how effective state regulation continues to
be."
About the NAIC
About the NAIC Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories. The NAIC’s overriding objective is to assist state insurance regulators in protecting consumers and helping maintain the financial stability of the insurance industry by offering financial, actuarial, legal, computer, research, market conduct and economic expertise. Formed in 1871, the NAIC is the oldest association of state officials. For more than 135 years, state-based insurance supervision has served the needs of consumers, industry and the business of insurance at-large by ensuring hands-on, frontline protection for consumers, while providing insurers the uniform platforms and coordinated systems they need to compete effectively in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit NAIC on the Web at: http://www.naic.org/press_home.htm
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