FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARYLAND AND PUERTO RICO INSURANCE DEPARTMENTS SELECT STATE BASED SYSTEMS

NEW YORK (March 10, 2007) - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), in conjunction with the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Puerto Rico Office of the Insurance Commissioner, announced today that both regulatory agencies have selected State Based Systems (SBS) to meet their back-office processing needs.

"The Maryland Insurance Administration has carefully evaluated State Based Systems, and we believe it to be a very good fit for our needs," said Steve Orr, Maryland Insurance Commissioner. "We have a system, but the functionality in State Based Systems will provide us with even more capability and efficiencies in our processing. Implementing SBS will allow us, over the longer term, to devote state IT resources to other projects, which oftentimes do not get attention. Furthermore, SBS offers us the ability to maintain our compliance with NAIC initiatives without delay and at no additional cost, which will save us considerable time and money here in Maryland."

"In our continued quest to speed and streamline our regulatory processes as much as possible, Puerto Rico welcomes the NAIC's and SBS' offer to assist us," said Dorelisse Juarbe Jiménez, Puerto Rico Insurance Commissioner. "We believe that SBS will not only help us to work toward this goal, but we also will be better able to meet ongoing NAIC national initiatives like data collecting and information exchange. In addition, the reduction in IT development and maintenance costs will allow us to concentrate these allowances in other areas of need."

"The addition of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Puerto Rico Department of Insurance to the SBS team is another step toward providing high-quality service to our membership," said Catherine J. Weatherford, NAIC Executive Vice President and CEO. "SBS provides well-designed, user-friendly interfaces to the insurance department to streamline processing and eliminate delays in approvals or dispositions. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to extend this service to Maryland and Puerto Rico, as we are sure they will benefit greatly from SBS."

About State Based Systems

SBS was developed by the NAIC in an effort to provide a cost-effective and efficient back-office processing system for the states, minimizing the need to acquire financial and human resources to support producer licensing, company licensing and analysis, consumer services, enforcement, fraud, and revenue management. SBS also touts sophisticated correspondence and document tracking features, as well as easy-to-use, flexible reporting and data-extract features.

Designed to cater to the unique needs and best interests of each state insurance department, SBS is offered to the departments as a benefit of their NAIC membership in an effort to simplify and enhance state insurance regulation processes. The NAIC builds and maintains SBS, provides technical support and system training, and hosts the SBS application and database for each licensed state.

The system offers a variety of services that assist consumers in safely choosing insurance providers. It also provides insurance companies and producers with increased access to information and real-time tools that make the application and approval processes more efficient. Used in conjunction with other NAIC technical offerings, SBS can significantly reduce a state's financial and human resources by providing support for daily regulatory activities. As a result, this leaves the state insurance department with more resources to devote to other initiatives.

In addition to Maryland and Puerto Rico, SBS is currently the solution of choice in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. For more information, visit SBS on the Web at: www.statebasedsystems.com.

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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