2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 33. Insurance and Insurance Companies › Chapter 12. Insurer Investments › Part 1. General Provisions › 33-12-102. Definitions

33-12-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Acceptable collateral" means:
(a) (i) as to securities lending transactions and for the purpose of calculating the counterparty exposure amount, cash, cash equivalents, letters of credit, or direct obligations of or securities that are fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the government of the United States, by any agency of the United States, by the federal national mortgage association, or by the federal home loan mortgage corporation; and
(ii) as to lending foreign securities, sovereign debt rated 1 by the SVO;
(b) as to repurchase transactions, cash, cash equivalents, and direct obligations of or securities that are fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the government of the United States, by an agency of the United States, by the federal national mortgage association, or by the federal home loan mortgage corporation; and
(c) as to reverse repurchase transactions, cash and cash equivalents.
(2) "Acceptable private mortgage insurance" means insurance written by a private insurer protecting a mortgage lender against loss occasioned by a mortgage loan default and issued by a licensed mortgage insurance company, with an SVO 1 designation or a rating issued by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization equivalent to an SVO 1 designation, that covers losses up to an 80% loan-to-value ratio.
(3) "Accident and health insurance" means insurance protection that provides payment of benefits for covered sickness or accidental injury, excluding credit insurance, disability insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and long-term care insurance.
(4) "Accident and health insurer" means a licensed life or health insurer or health service corporation whose insurance premiums and required statutory reserves for accident and health insurance constitute at least 95% of total premium considerations or total statutorily required reserves.
(5) (a) "Admitted assets" means, subject to subsection (5)(b), assets determined in accordance with the requirements of 33-2-501.
(b) The term does not include assets of separate accounts. The investments of separate accounts are not subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(6) "Affiliate" has the meaning provided in 33-2-1101.
(7) (a) "Asset-backed security" means a security or other instrument, excluding a mutual fund, evidencing an interest in or the right to receive payments from or payable from distributions on an asset, a pool of assets, or specifically divisible cash flows that are legally transferred to a trust or another special purpose bankruptcy-remote business entity, on the following conditions:
(i) the trust or other business entity is established solely for the purpose of acquiring specific types of assets or rights to cash flows, issuing securities and other instruments representing an interest in or right to receive cash flows from those assets or rights, and engaging in activities required to service the assets or rights and any credit enhancement or support features held by the trust or other business entity; and
(ii) the assets of the trust or other business entity consist solely of interest-bearing obligations or other contractual obligations representing the right to receive payment from the cash flows from the assets or rights.
(b) However, the existence of credit enhancements, such as letters of credit, guarantees, or support features, such as swap agreements, may not cause a security or other instrument to be ineligible as an asset-backed security.
(8) "Business entity" includes a sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, association, partnership, joint-stock company, joint venture, mutual fund, trust, joint tenancy, or other similar form of business organization, whether organized for profit or not for profit.
(9) "Cap" means an agreement obligating the seller to make payments to the buyer, with each payment based on the amount by which a reference price or level or the performance or value of one or more underlying interests exceeds a predetermined number. The predetermined number is sometimes called the strike rate or strike price.
(10) "Capital and surplus" means the sum of the capital and surplus of the insurer required to be shown on the most recent statutory financial statement of the insurer required to be filed with the commissioner.
(11) "Cash equivalents" means short-term, highly rated, and highly liquid investments or securities readily convertible to known amounts of cash without penalty and so near maturity that they present insignificant risk of change in value. Cash equivalents include government money market mutual funds and class one money market mutual funds.
(12) "Class one bond mutual fund" means a mutual fund that at all times qualifies for investment using the bond class one reserve factor under the Purposes and Procedures of the Securities Valuation Office or any successor publication.
(13) "Class one money market mutual fund" means a money market mutual fund that at all times qualifies for investment using the bond class one reserve factor under the Purposes and Procedures of the Securities Valuation Office or any successor publication.
(14) "Collar" means an agreement to receive payments as the buyer of an option, cap, or floor and to make payments as the seller of a different option, cap, or floor.
(15) "Construction loan" means a loan for a term of less than 3 years that is made for financing the cost of construction of a building or other improvement to real estate and that is secured by the real estate.
(16) "Control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract (other than a commercial contract for goods or nonmanagement services), or otherwise, unless the power is the result of an official position with a corporation or a corporate office held by the person. Presumption of control is pursuant to 33-12-108.
(17) "Counterparty exposure amount" means the net amount of credit risk attributable to a derivative instrument, pursuant to 33-12-109, entered into with a business entity other than through a qualified exchange or qualified foreign exchange or cleared through a qualified clearinghouse. The derivative instrument is also known as an over-the-counter derivative instrument.
(18) "Covered" means that an insurer:
(a) owns or can immediately acquire, through the exercise of options, warrants, or already-owned conversion rights, the underlying interest in order to fulfill or secure its obligations under a call option, cap, or floor it has written; or
(b) has set aside, under a custodial or escrow agreement, cash or cash equivalents with a market value equal to the amount required to fulfill its obligations under a put option it has written in an income generation transaction.
(19) "Credit tenant loan" means a mortgage loan that is made primarily in reliance on the credit standing of a major tenant, structured with an assignment of the rental payments to the lender with real estate pledged as collateral in the form of a first lien.
(20) (a) "Derivative instrument" means an agreement, an option, an instrument, or a series or combination of agreements, options, or instruments:
(i) to make or take delivery of or assume or relinquish a specified amount of one or more underlying interests or to make a cash settlement in lieu of delivery; or
(ii) that has a price, level, performance, value, or cash flow based primarily upon the actual or expected price, level, performance, value, or cash flow of one or more underlying interests.
(b) (i) Derivative instruments include options, warrants used in a hedging transaction and not attached to another financial instrument, caps, floors, collars, swaps, forwards, futures, and any other agreements, options, or instruments substantially similar to the enumerated instruments or any series or combination of the enumerated instruments and any agreements, options, or instruments permitted under rules adopted pursuant to 33-12-111.
(ii) Derivative instruments do not include an investment authorized by 33-12-203 through 33-12-209, 33-12-211, and 33-12-305 through 33-12-309.
(21) "Derivative transaction" means a transaction involving the use of one or more derivative instruments.
(22) "Direct" or "directly", when used in connection with an obligation, means that the designated obligor is primarily liable on the instrument representing the obligation.
(23) "Dollar roll transaction" means two simultaneous transactions with different settlement dates that are no more than 96 days apart, so that in the transaction with the earlier settlement date, an insurer sells to a business entity, and in the other transaction, the insurer is obligated to purchase from the same business entity, substantially similar securities of the following types:
(a) asset-backed securities issued, assumed, or guaranteed by the government national mortgage association, the federal national mortgage association, or the federal home loan mortgage corporation or their successors; and
(b) other asset-backed securities referred to in section 106 of Title I of the Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 77r-1), as amended.
(24) "Domestic jurisdiction" means the United States, any state, Canada, any province of Canada, or any political subdivision of a state or province.
(25) "Equity interest" means any of the following that are not rated credit instruments:
(a) common stock;
(b) preferred stock;
(c) trust certificate;
(d) equity investment in an investment company other than a money market mutual fund or a class one bond mutual fund;
(e) investment in a common trust fund of a bank regulated by a federal or state agency;
(f) an ownership interest in minerals, oil, or gas, the rights to which have been separated from the underlying fee interest in the real estate where the minerals, oil, or gas is located;
(g) instruments that are mandatorily, or at the option of the issuer, convertible to equity;
(h) limited partnership interests and those general partnership interests authorized under 33-12-104(4);
(i) member interests in limited liability companies;
(j) warrants or other rights to acquire equity interests that are created by the person that owns or would issue the equity to be acquired; or
(k) instruments that would be rated credit instruments except for the provisions of subsection (70)(b).
(26) "Equivalent securities" means:
(a) in a securities lending transaction, securities that are identical to the loaned securities in all features including the amount of the loaned securities, except as to certificate number if held in physical form, but if any different security is exchanged for a loaned security by recapitalization, merger, consolidation, or other corporate action, the different security is considered to be the loaned security;
(b) in a repurchase transaction, securities that are identical to the purchased securities in all features including the amount of the purchased securities, except as to the certificate number if held in physical form; or
(c) in a reverse repurchase transaction, securities that are identical to the sold securities in all features including the amount of the sold securities, except as to the certificate number if held in physical form.
(27) "Floor" means an agreement obligating the seller to make payments to the buyer in which each payment is based on the amount by which a predetermined number, sometimes called the floor rate or price, exceeds a price, level, performance, or value of one or more underlying interests.
(28) "Foreign currency" means a currency other than that of a domestic jurisdiction.
(29) (a) "Foreign investment" means an investment in a foreign jurisdiction, or an investment in a person, real estate, or asset domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction, that is substantially of the same type as those eligible for investment under part 2 of this chapter, 33-12-301 through 33-12-306, 33-12-308, 33-12-310 through 33-12-312, and this part.
(b) An investment may not be considered to be foreign if the issuing person, qualified primary credit source, or qualified guarantor is a domestic jurisdiction or a person domiciled in a domestic jurisdiction, unless:
(i) the issuing person is a shell business entity; and
(ii) the investment is not assumed, accepted, guaranteed or insured, or otherwise backed by a domestic jurisdiction or a person that is not a shell business entity and that is domiciled in a domestic jurisdiction.
(30) "Foreign jurisdiction" means a jurisdiction other than a domestic jurisdiction.
(31) "Forward" means an agreement, other than a future, to make or take delivery of or effect a cash settlement based on the actual or expected price, level, performance, or value of one or more underlying interests.
(32) "Future" means an agreement, traded on a qualified exchange or qualified foreign exchange, to make or take delivery of or effect a cash settlement based on the actual or expected price, level, performance, or value of one or more underlying interests.
(33) "Government money market mutual fund" means a money market mutual fund that at all times:
(a) invests only in obligations issued, guaranteed, or insured by the federal government of the United States or collateralized repurchase agreements composed of these obligations; and
(b) qualifies for investment without a reserve under the Purposes and Procedures of the Securities Valuation Office or any successor publication.
(34) "Government-sponsored enterprise" means a:
(a) governmental agency; or
(b) corporation, limited liability company, association, partnership, joint-stock company, joint venture, trust, or other entity or instrumentality organized under the laws of any domestic jurisdiction to accomplish a public policy or other governmental purpose.
(35) "Guaranteed or insured", when used in connection with an obligation acquired under this chapter, means that the guarantor or insurer has agreed to:
(a) perform or insure the obligation of the obligor or purchase the obligation; or
(b) be unconditionally obligated until the obligation is repaid to maintain in the obligor a minimum net worth, fixed charge coverage, stockholders' equity, or sufficient liquidity to enable the obligor to pay the obligation in full.
(36) "Hedging transaction" means a derivative transaction that is entered into and maintained to reduce:
(a) the risk of a change in the value, yield, price, cash flow, or quantity of assets or liabilities that the insurer has acquired or incurred or anticipates acquiring or incurring; or
(b) the currency exchange rate risk or the degree of exposure as to assets or liabilities that an insurer has acquired or incurred or anticipates acquiring or incurring.
(37) "High-grade investment" means a rated credit instrument rated 1 or 2 by the SVO.
(38) "Highly rated" means an investment rated "P-1" by Moody's investors service, inc. or "A-1" by Standard and Poor's division of the McGraw Hill companies, inc. or its equivalent rating by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization recognized by the SVO.
(39) "Income" means, as to a security, interest, accrual of discount, dividends, or other distributions, such as rights, tax or assessment credits, warrants, and distributions in kind.
(40) "Income generation transaction" means a derivative transaction involving the writing of covered call options, covered put options, covered caps, or covered floors that is intended to generate income or enhance return.
(41) "Insurance future" means a future relating to an index or pool that is based on insurance-related items.
(42) "Insurance futures option" means an option on an insurance future.
(43) "Investment company" means an investment company as defined in section 80a-3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1, et seq.), as amended, and a person described in section 80a-3(c) of that act.
(44) "Investment company series" means an investment portfolio of an investment company that is organized as a series company and to which assets of the investment company have been specifically allocated.
(45) "Investment practices" means transactions of the types described in 33-12-208, 33-12-210, 33-12-308, or 33-12-310.
(46) "Investment strategies" means the techniques and methods used by an insurer to meet its investment objectives, such as active bond portfolio management, passive bond portfolio management, interest rate anticipation, growth investing, and value investing.
(47) "Investment subsidiary" means a subsidiary of an insurer engaged or organized to engage exclusively in the ownership and management of assets authorized as investments for the insurer if each subsidiary agrees to limit its investment in any asset so that its investments will not cause the amount of the total investment of the insurer to exceed any of the investment limitations or avoid any other provisions of this chapter applicable to the insurer.
(48) "Letter of credit" means a clean, irrevocable, and unconditional letter of credit issued or confirmed by and payable and presentable at a financial institution on the list of financial institutions meeting the standards for issuing letters of credit under the Purposes and Procedures of the Securities Valuation Office or any successor publication.
(49) "Limited liability company" means a business organization, excluding partnerships and ordinary business corporations, organized or operating under the laws of the United States or any state that limits the personal liability of investors to the equity investment of the investor in the business entity.
(50) "Lower-grade investment" means a rated credit instrument rated 4, 5, or 6 by the SVO.
(51) "Market value" means:
(a) as to cash and letters of credit, the amounts of cash or a letter of credit; and
(b) as to a security, as of any date, the price for the security on that date obtained from a generally recognized source or the most recent quotation from a generally recognized source or, to the extent that a generally recognized source does not exist, the price for the security as determined in good faith by the parties to a transaction, plus accrued but unpaid income on a security to the extent not included in the price as of that date.
(52) "Medium-grade investment" means a rated credit instrument rated 3 by the SVO.
(53) "Money market mutual fund" means a mutual fund that meets the conditions of 17 CFR 270.2a-7, under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1, et seq.), as amended or renumbered.
(54) "Mortgage loan" means an obligation secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, trust deed, or other consensual lien on real estate.
(55) "Multilateral development bank" means an international development organization of which the United States is a member.
(56) "Mutual fund" means an investment company or an investment company series that is registered with the United States securities and exchange commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1, et seq.), as amended.
(57) "NAIC" means the national association of insurance commissioners.
(58) "Obligation" means a bond, note, debenture, trust certificate including an equipment certificate, production payment, negotiable bank certificate of deposit, bankers' acceptance, credit tenant loan, loan secured by financing net leases, and other evidence of indebtedness for the payment of money (or participations, certificates, or other evidences of an interest in any of the foregoing), whether constituting a general obligation of the issuer or payable only out of certain revenue or certain funds pledged or otherwise dedicated for payment.
(59) "Option" means an agreement giving the buyer the right to buy or receive (a "call option"), sell or deliver (a "put option"), enter into, extend or terminate, or effect a cash settlement based on the actual or expected price, level, performance, or value of one or more underlying interests.
(60) "Person" has the meaning provided in 33-1-202.
(61) "Potential exposure" means the amount determined in accordance with the NAIC Annual Statement Instructions.
(62) "Preferred stock" means preferred, preference, or guaranteed stock of a business entity authorized to issue the stock that has a preference in liquidation over the common stock of the business entity.
(63) "Qualified bank" means:
(a) a national bank, state bank, or trust company that at all times is adequately capitalized as determined by standards adopted by United States banking regulators and that is either regulated by state banking laws or is a member of the federal reserve system; or
(b) a bank or trust company incorporated or organized under the laws of a country other than the United States that is regulated as a bank or trust company by that country's government or an agency of that government and that at all times is adequately capitalized as determined by the standards adopted by international banking authorities.
(64) "Qualified business entity" means a business entity that is:
(a) an issuer of obligations or preferred stock that is rated 1 or 2 by the SVO or an issuer of obligations, preferred stock, or derivative instruments that are rated the equivalent of 1 or 2 by the SVO or by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization recognized by the SVO; or
(b) a primary dealer in United States government securities recognized by the federal reserve bank of New York.
(65) "Qualified clearinghouse" means a clearinghouse for, and subject to the rules of, a qualified exchange or a qualified foreign exchange, which provides clearing services, including acting as a counterparty to each of the parties to a transaction so that the parties no longer have a credit risk as to each other.
(66) "Qualified exchange" means:
(a) a securities exchange registered as a national securities exchange or a securities market regulated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78, et seq.), as amended;
(b) a board of trade or commodities exchange designated as a contract market by the commodity futures trading commission or its successor;
(c) private offerings, resales, and trading through automated linkages;
(d) a designated offshore securities market as defined in securities exchange commission regulation S, 17 CFR part 230, as amended; or
(e) a qualified foreign exchange.
(67) "Qualified foreign exchange" means a foreign exchange, board of trade, or contract market located outside the United States or its territories or possessions:
(a) that has received regulatory comparability relief under commodity futures trading commission rule 30.1 (as set forth in appendix C to part 30 of the regulations, 17 CFR part 30);
(b) that is, or its members are, subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign futures authority that has received regulatory comparability relief under commodity futures trading commission rule 30.1 (as set forth in appendix C to part 30 of the regulations, 17 CFR part 30) as to futures transactions in the jurisdiction where the exchange, board of trade, or contract market is located; or
(c) upon which foreign stock index futures contracts are listed that are the subject of no-action relief issued by the CFTC's office of general counsel, provided that an exchange, board of trade, or contract market that qualifies as a qualified foreign exchange only under this subsection (67) is a qualified foreign exchange as to foreign stock index futures contracts that are the subject of no-action relief.
(68) "Qualified guarantor" means a guarantor against which an insurer has a direct claim for full and timely payment, evidenced by a contractual right for which an enforcement action can be brought in a domestic jurisdiction.
(69) "Qualified primary credit source" means the credit source to which an insurer looks for payment as to an investment and against which an insurer has a direct claim for full and timely payment, evidenced by a contractual right for which an enforcement action can be brought in a domestic jurisdiction.
(70) (a) "Rated credit instrument" means a contractual right to receive cash or another rated credit instrument from another entity if the instrument:
(i) is rated or required to be rated by the SVO;
(ii) in the case of an instrument with a maturity of 397 days or less, is issued, guaranteed, or insured by an entity that is rated by, or another obligation of the entity is rated by, the SVO or by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization recognized by the SVO;
(iii) in the case of an instrument with a maturity of 90 days or less, is issued by a qualified bank;
(iv) is a share of a class one bond mutual fund; or
(v) is a share of a money market mutual fund.
(b) The term does not include:
(i) an instrument that is mandatorily or at the option of the issuer convertible to an equity interest; or
(ii) a security that has a par value and whose terms provide that the issuer's net obligation to repay all or part of the security's par value is determined by reference to the performance of an equity, a commodity, a foreign currency, an index of equities, commodities, foreign currencies, or combinations of equities, commodities, and foreign currency.
(71) (a) "Real estate" means:
(i) real property;
(ii) interests in real property, such as leaseholds, minerals, oil, and gas, that have not been separated from the underlying fee interest;
(iii) improvements and fixtures located on or in real property; and
(iv) the seller's equity in a contract providing for a deed of real estate.
(b) As to a mortgage on a leasehold estate, real estate includes the leasehold estate only if it has an unexpired term, including renewal options exercisable at the option of the lessee, extending beyond the scheduled maturity date of the obligation that is secured by a mortgage on the leasehold estate by a period equal to at least 20% of the original term of the obligation or 10 years, whichever is greater.
(72) "Replication transaction" means a derivative transaction that is intended to replicate the performance of one or more assets that an insurer is authorized to acquire under this chapter. A derivative transaction that is entered into as a hedging transaction may not be considered a replication transaction.
(73) "Repurchase transaction" means a transaction in which an insurer purchases securities from a business entity that is obligated to repurchase the purchased securities or equivalent securities from the insurer at a specified price, either within a specified period of time or upon demand.
(74) "Required liabilities" means total liabilities required to be reported on the statutory financial statement of the insurer most recently required to be filed with the commissioner.
(75) "Residential mortgage loan" means a loan primarily secured by a mortgage on real estate improved with a residence for no more than four families.
(76) "Reverse repurchase transaction" means a transaction in which an insurer sells securities to a business entity and is obligated to repurchase the sold securities or equivalent securities from the business entity at a specified price, either within a specified period of time or upon demand.
(77) "Secured location" means the contiguous real estate owned by one person.
(78) "Securities lending transaction" means a transaction in which securities are loaned by an insurer to a business entity that is obligated to return the loaned securities or equivalent securities to the insurer, either within a specified period of time or upon demand.
(79) "Series company" means an investment company that is organized as a series company, as defined in rules adopted under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1, et seq.), as amended.
(80) "Shell business entity" means a business entity having no economic substance, except as a vehicle for owning interests in assets issued, owned, or previously owned by a person domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction.
(81) "Short-term" means investments with a remaining term to maturity of 90 days or less.
(82) "Sinking fund stock" means preferred stock that:
(a) is subject to a mandatory sinking fund or similar arrangement that will provide for the redemption or open market purchase of the entire issue over a period not longer than 40 years from the date of acquisition; and
(b) provides for mandatory sinking fund installments or open market purchases commencing not more than 10 1/2 years from the date of issue, with the sinking fund installments providing for the purchase or redemption, on a cumulative basis commencing 10 years from the date of issue, of at least 2.5% a year of the original number of shares of that issue of preferred stock.
(83) "State" has meaning provided in 33-1-201.
(84) "Substantially similar securities" means securities that meet all criteria for substantially similar specified in the NAIC Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual, as amended, and in an amount that constitutes good delivery form as determined from time to time by the public securities administration.
(85) "SVO" means the securities valuation office of the NAIC or any successor office established by the NAIC.
(86) "Swap" means an agreement to exchange or to net payments at one or more times based on the actual or expected price, level, performance, or value of one or more underlying interests.
(87) "Total investment of the insurer" includes:
(a) direct investment by the insurer in an asset; and
(b) the insurer's proportionate share of an investment in an asset by an investment subsidiary of the insurer, which must be calculated by multiplying the amount of the subsidiary's investment by the percentage of the insurer's ownership interest in the subsidiary.
(88) "Underlying interest" means the assets, liabilities, other interests, or a combination of assets, liabilities, or other interests underlying a derivative instrument, such as any one or more securities, currencies, rates, indices, commodities, or derivative instruments.
(89) "Unrestricted surplus" means the amount by which total admitted assets exceed 125% of the insurer's required liabilities.
(90) "Warrant" means an instrument that gives the holder the right to purchase an underlying financial instrument at a given price and time or at a series of prices and times outlined in the warrant agreement. Warrants may be issued alone or in connection with the sale of other securities, for example, as part of a merger or recapitalization agreement, or to facilitate divestiture of the securities of another business entity.
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 304, L. 1999.