EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
AICP
E-Day set for
May 15 in Norwood.
P
rocess to
Become an Assessor; join the fun!
Renewing
membership by attestation.
AVIVA does it!
IMSA
Issues chat group up on
Insurance Campus.org!
Look
who’s being honored as an ethical company!
News
from IMSA Today
Even
our surveys end!
Sorry, but you missed it!
What
we are up to at the Kenneth J. Kalis Company
S
enior Leader Compliance Committee: April Best
Practice
And more!
AICP
Kalis to Sponsor
New England AICP E-Day in May
The New England
Chapter of the AICP (Association of Insurance
Compliance Professionals) is holding its E-Day
signature event this year on Friday, May 15, 2009 at
the newly renovated Four Points by Sheraton Norwood Hotel & Conference
Center in
Norwood, MA.
AICP's E-Day is an
excellent opportunity for insurance groups of all
kinds to share information about your products or
services with over 125 dedicated insurance
professionals, including regulators.
It’s also a good opportunity to learn what’s
going on with companies and to meet interesting
people!
P
rocess to
Become an Assessor; join the fun!
Ever think about becoming a Qualified
IMSA Assessor?
IMSA has placed the process on its website,
so check it out!
Click here for the application form
To
become an IMSA Qualified Independent Assessor a
candidate must meet each of the four standards
listed below and submit a completed Qualified
Independent Assessor Application along with a $300
application fee. Once received by IMSA the
contents of the application are reviewed and, if
appropriate, submitted to an independent
organization, which conducts a background check to
verify selected information contained in the
application.
Upon successful completion of a background check all
approved candidates must attend training and submit
a $1,250 annual fee to cover various administrative
expenses.
A Qualified Independent Assessor candidate must meet
each of the following standards:
Standard One:
The candidate will have credentials related to a
field of expertise that is pertinent to conducting
the assessment.
Standard Two:
The candidate must demonstrate experience in at
least five of the last seven years
working in a legal, consulting, auditing, regulatory
or internal operating capacity associated with the
life insurance industry.
Standard Three: The candidate must
demonstrate experience in at least three of
the last five years with legal, consulting,
auditing, regulatory or operational review of life
insurance market conduct or life insurance
compliance practices.
Standard Four:
The candidate agrees to complete IMSA training
requirements.
Click here for the application form
Renewing
membership by attestation.
AVIVA does it!
Congratulations to AVIVA for
being the first company to avail itself of the
alternative attestation process to renewing IMSA
membership.
You can hear all about it
from
Aviva USA SVP & Chief Compliance Officer Maureen
Closson offer her perspective on the value of IMSA
and the streamlined re-qualification opportunity.
Maureen Closson Interview Part 1
Maureen Closson Interview Part 2
IMSA
Issues chat group up on Insurance Campus.org!
Have you heard of the new networking web site for
Insurance Professionals?
Billed as “The Insurance Industry
Person-To-Person,” is a great place to me.
Members create their own profile, groups,
blogs, photos, videos and more.
http://www.insurancecampus.org/
Here’s a brief intro from President
Walt Podgurski on how to use the site.
He was also kind enough to have a logo
designed for an IMSA issues group designed to be an
open forum on any and all IMSA issues for anyone who
want to participate.
Please join the network and the IMSA Issues
group as well!
How
to “Get Started” at Insurance Campus.org
Insurance Campus.org now has over 600 members from
15 countries and I want to personally thank you for
your interest. The medium is new to us and we are
going through a bit of a learning curve on
how
to make this a tremendous networking and
communication tool for everyone. We have started a
“Tips for using Insurance Campus.org” help list that
you can access by clicking the “Forum” tab at the
top of the page. We will be adding topics and it
currently has information on:
- How to “Get Started” at Insurance Campus.org
- How to change the “theme” on your home page
- What is the URL of my Insurance Campus.org Home
Page?
- What to do if your picture is not displaying
properly.
- Using the search bar
- Starting a Forum Discussion
- Starting your own Group
- Adding a Photo to your page.
- What countries have one or more members at
Insurance Campus.org?
- Privacy & How To Send A Private Message To Another
Member Of Insurance Campus.org
- Every Tuesday is “Make A Friend Tuesday” at
Insurance Campus.org
Look
who’s being honored as an ethical company!
(Reprinted
with permission.)
AFLAC Lands on List of
World’s Most Ethical Companies
By: (Mon, Apr/27/2009)
The
American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus isn’t the only ethical insurance company in
America. But it is the
most ethical, according to an
international ethics group.
Ethisphere identified AFLAC as one of three
insurance companies, and the only one based in
America, on its most recent list of The World’s Most
Ethical Companies. There are 99 companies on this
year’s list, gleaned from a record number of
nominations from companies in over 100 countries and
35 industries. It wasn’t clear how many of those
were insurers.
The
group bills itself as “The World’s Most Recognized
Name in Business Ethics and Anti-Corruption.”
Two
other insurers – Swiss Re and Japan’s Sompo – were also honored.
Two U.S.
financial services companies – Hartford Financial
Services and The Principal Financial Group – also
make the list.
Ethisphere didn’t provide any company-specific
details before ICI’s deadline, but its
Web site
provided general judging criteria:
•
Corporate citizenship and responsibility.
How does the company respond to the community and
workplace, what is the company’s sustainability
track record and how does it audit its supply chain?
Ethisphere factored in placement on major
sustainability lists, such as FTSE4Good Index
Series, which measures the performance of companies
that meet globally recognized standards of corporate
responsibility.
•
Corporate governance.
Is the company properly aware of potential value
conflicts at and around the company and address
those conflicts in an effective way?
•
Innovation that contributes to public well being.
Does the company provide products, services and/or
process innovation that positively contributes to
public well-being?
•
Industry leadership.
How does the company set industry standards for
business ethics and compliance, corporate
governance, responsibility, sustainable development
and environmental
protection?
•
Executive leadership and tone from the top.
Does the company have strong and visible executive
leadership on ethics, corporate governance and
citizenship?
•
Legal, regulatory and reputation track record.
What is the legal history of the company?
•
Internal systems and ethics/compliance program.
Does the company have satisfactory internal control
systems, including a leading code of conduct,
whistleblower policies, prevention and detection
controls and similar controls?
This is the second major award this month for AFLAC.
It was also selected as the top brand in the
insurance and financial services industry by City
Business Journals Network. It is the first time
AFLAC has grabbed first place in the industry,
capturing the American Brand Excellence Award.
It
and other winning companies in five other categories
were chosen by more than 1,400 business owners and
managers of small and mid-sized firms as the brands
that best meet the needs of their businesses. More
than 250 business brands were rated in the
nationwide survey based upon criteria including
industry leaders, forward thinking, growing
popularity and ethical behavior.
Copyright 2009 ProBusiness Publishing LLC
April 27, 2009
News
from IMSA Today
IMSA
Today
April
21,
2009
Annuity Suitability – IMSA
Solutions Advance
IMSA has introduced two new proposed
strategies to present a new and fresh approach to
addressing annuity suitability issues that remain
under review by state regulators and the NAIC. The
goal of these strategies is to leverage IMSA’s role
as an “honest broker” so that companies and
regulators can come to a mutual understanding of
compliance expectations regarding the NAIC
Suitability in Annuity Transactions (A) Model
Regulation (of which various forms have now been
adopted in over 40 states). IMSA conducted an
Annuity Suitability Supervision and Monitoring
Working Group conference call last week to review
the proposed strategies, and a follow-up conference
call will be scheduled for the week of April 27th to
refine these proposals.
These efforts arose as a result of
discussions that took place during the recent
IMSA-AARP Summit Meeting and subsequent discussions
that have taken place between IMSA and several state
insurance departments, as well as the leadership of
the NAIC.
More information on this initiative will
follow in the coming weeks.
Supervision Standards &
Independent Assessment Manual Working Groups Get to
Work
The IMSA Standards Development Committee has
established two Working Groups to explore specific
issues. Last week, IMSA convened the Supervision
Standard Commentary Working Group to begin updating
the commentary that accompanies IMSA's supervision
standards.
The
Independent Assessment Manual Working Group also met
last week to outline its strategy to revise the
Independent Assessment Manual in light of recent
modifications to the IMSA qualification process and
reinstatement processes. It is anticipated that
these modifications will provide greater clarity and
guidance to companies about independent assessment
activities for new and renewing companies.
Compliance Best Practices
Workshop Update
The IMSA Compliance Committee recently
conducted a poll of its members with respect to
whether IMSA will conduct its annual Best Practices
Workshop this year. Based upon responses received
from the survey, it has been determined that, in
light of reductions in travel budgets that may limit
peoples’ ability to attend a conference in-person,
IMSA will conduct a series of webinars to address a
number of issues across several sessions that can be
attended by member company representatives
electronically, rather than in-person. More
information on the first IMSA Best Practices
Workshop webinar, slated for June, will be provided
in the coming weeks.
IMSA-AARP
Summit Meeting
Feedback Is In!
Thanks to all Annuity Suitability Summit
attendees for their helpful feedback about the March
event. Four out of five respondents found the event
“extremely helpful.” The open interaction between
regulators, companies and other key stakeholders was
rated the most beneficial aspect of the Summit. Many stated that IMSA’s Supervision and
Monitoring Standards report and related initiatives
should be embraced by more states as well as the
NAIC. Several respondents would like to see Summit agendas extended to
allow time for focus group sessions. If you would
like to offer feedback, it’s not too late. Please
contact Jennifer Kalita at
JenniferKalita@IMSAethics.org or (240) 744-3021.
Regulatory Reform in the
Spotlight at Upcoming Events
The March to
Washington: Given the considerable focus on
possible reform of financial services regulation,
including insurance, IMSA President & CEO Brian
Atchinson will host a panel entitled The March to
Washington at the upcoming IRES Foundation’s
National Insurance School on Market Regulation in 
Savannah, Georgia on May 4, 2009. Panelists
will include NAIC CEO Dr. Terri Vaughan Visit
http://www.ires-foundation.org/register.html to
register.
ACLI Forum 500 CEO Leadership Retreat:
Brian Atchinson has been invited to present an
Update on Regulatory Compliance Issues to industry
executives in Arlington, Virginia on May 14, 2009. Visit
http://www.acli.com/ACLI/Events to register.
Agents for Change 2009
Legislative Conference: On June 23-24, 2009,
Financial Services Roundtable affiliate Agents for
Change will host its 2009 Legislative Conference in
Washington,
D.C., where Brian Atchinson has
been asked to speak about market conduct and SRO
(self-regulatory organization) issues. Visit
www.agents4change.net to register.
Upcoming Meetings
Some upcoming industry events in which you
may be interested include:
May 3-5
IRES Foundation’s National Insurance School
on Market Regulation -
Savannah, GA
May 3-5
Association of Life Insurance Counsel Annual
Meeting -
San Diego, CA
May 12-14
ACLI Forum 500 CEO Leadership Retreat - Arlington, VA
June 3
Standards Advisory Committee Meeting
June 7-11
MDRT Annual Meeting -
Indianapolis, IN
June 8
Producer Advisory Committee Meeting – Indianapolis, IN
To submit comments or to cancel your email
subscription at any time, please contact Jennifer
Kalita at JenniferKalita@IMSAethics.org.
Even
our surveys end!
Sorry, but you missed it!
Our thanks to those companies who took the
time to complete our survey on on-boarding
independent agents from large IMO’s.
We will be sharing the findings with the
participants and with the IMSA Standards Committee
companies who took part.
What
we are up to at the Kenneth J. Kalis Company
As you know from our last issue, we have
moved about ten miles from little Alachua, FL back to
Gainesville, home of the University of Florida.
We are still unpacking boxes and things, but
our new phone number is up and running.
An IMPORTANT
New Number……………….(352-505-0705)
Things are picking up and we are beginning
to work with a company to inaugurate the fifth
3-year cycle of IMSA membership.
You may remember the first one began in 1998,
then 2001, 2004, 2007 and now 2010.
We have been involved from the very beginning
and are still very much “true believers” in the IMSA
process.
What better time for companies to show their
commitment to ethical market conduct than in the
current economic crisis and lack of trust in
corporate leadership.
Let us know if you’d like to learn more about
IMSA, and visit our website at
www.kkalis.com, the most
content-rich IMSA site on the Net.
The Kenneth J
Kalis Company has just moved our offices from
Alachua (a little suburb, population about 5,000)
ten miles east back into Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, as all you Gator fans out there
know.
Our new address is 3939 NW 62nd Lane,
Gainesville, FL 32653, and our new phone number is
352-505-0705 (the old number, 386-462-1074 will be
disconnected on A
pril
21, 2009, but will retain a message directing any
callers to the new number for 90 days).
All this is on our web site at kkalis.com,
where we’re seeing an increase in activity lately.
S
enior Leader Compliance Committee: April Best
Practice
One of the most important reasons to
have a Chief Compliance Officer is to make sure that
compliance is built into every business decision.
That means that when a new product or system
is being considered the compliance issues must be
tackled right away, not dealt with as an
afterthought that puts the CCO in the role of the
“Sales Prevention” guy or “Dr. No.”
The CCO also needs to be kept up to date on
emerging compliance issues and all issues facing the
rest of the senior management team.
One IMSA company does this by having a Senior
Compliance Officer Team, made up of the heads of
each Business Unit.
Here are the key impacts:
Senior Leader Compliance Committee
n
Impact: Integrated planning for
resources.
n
Impact: Greater Buy-in from all
areas.
n
Impact: Fewer last minute
surprises.
Want to learn more?
Give us a call at 352-505-0705.
