On April 17, 2019, I attended the Pennsylvania Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (PAMIC) Small Company Eastern Group Meeting at the Pine Barn Inn, located in Danville, Pennsylvania. A few days prior to the meeting, the barn had experienced significant storm damage with tornado’s touching down in Millville and other nearby towns. The experience highlighted […]
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the standard-setting body for U.S.-based insurers, introduced a new cybersecurity standard in October of 2017. This “Model Law,” formally known as the Insurance Data Security Model Law, sets certain security expectations and operations guidelines for insurance companies. If insurance companies are licensed or write business in various states, […]
Insurance company management teams have just completed their annual statement filings for the 2018 calendar year and will soon be having meetings with their Boards of Directors to discuss 2019. We consider now a good time to remind Pennsylvania companies that the Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure (CGAD) was signed into Pennsylvania law in 2018, with […]
On February 8, 2018, the Statutory Accounting Principles Working Group (SAPWG) for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) met via conference call to discuss INT 18-01: Updated Tax Estimates under the Tax Cuts and Job Act (the Act). Three issues were discussed: Reporting and updating estimates related to the Act Reporting Changes to Deferred […]
Recent changes adopted by the NAIC will allow insurers to get into compliance with their subsidiary filing requirements. Many insurers own small subsidiaries, such as an insurance agency, but have never made the appropriate filings with the NAIC. The recent changes made by the NAIC will make compliance easier and less costly for those companies […]
This summer the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) published their “Listing of Companies“. This is the official source from the NAIC to use to determine if an alien insurer has been assigned a certified reinsurer identification number (or CRIN). On March 23, 2015, we published an announcement, “Certified Reinsurers & Specifically Underwriters at Lloyd’s […]
On July 9, 2015, the IRS issued Notice 2015-49, Use of Lump Sum Payments to Replace Lifetime Income Being Received By Retirees Under Defined Benefit Pension. This IRS Notice banned lump sum payments as a benefit option for retirees already receiving benefits (called in pay status). Plan sponsors can continue to provide the lump sum […]
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) issued its original framework in 1992, and it has been used as guide since then to develop internal controls in all industries. This framework has been revised and was effective December 15, 2014. The purpose of the revision was to address the many aspects of business that have changed […]
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a U.S. federal law that affects virtually the entire financial services sector, including the insurance industry. FATCA is intended primarily as an information-gathering law and requires foreign financial institutions (including many non-U.S. insurance companies and non-U.S. insurance brokers) to provide information to the IRS about their U.S. […]
In 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) boards decided to agree to disagree and the ultimate concept of convergence has ended. Therefore, where are we today after ten years of convergence work? Some convergence projects have been completed successfully as envisioned-aligned principles even if the words differed. Others […]