New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 11 - INSURANCE › Chapter III - Policy and Certificate Provisions › Subchapter A - Life, Accident and Health Insurance › Part 50 - Separate Accounts and Separate Account Contracts › Subpart 50-2 - Separate Accounts and Separate Account Contracts on or after January 1, 2023 › Section 50-2.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Wherever used
					 in this Subpart, the following terms shall have the respective meanings
					 hereinafter set forth or indicated, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
Insurer
means an
					 authorized life insurance company, United States branch of an alien insurance
					 company entered through this state, and authorized fraternal benefit society,
					 unless otherwise provided in this Subpart.
(2)
Fixed benefits
means
					 benefits in which the amounts payable or credited are not a result of direct
					 participation in the actual investment performance of the separate account and
					 which guarantee that there will be no loss of principal due to investment
					 performance.
(3)
Guaranteed
					 index benefits
means fixed benefits that credit interest as determined
					 by a formula based on an external index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500
					 Composite Stock Price Index.
(4)
Non-guaranteed index benefits
means benefits in which the
					 value increases or decreases as determined by a formula based on an external
					 index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Price Index, and
					 allows for the loss of principal as a result of performance of the
					 formula.
(5)
Separate
					 account
or
separate accounts
mean an account or
					 accounts established pursuant to Insurance Law section 4240, as amended or
					 established pursuant to the laws and regulations of the insurer's domiciliary
					 state.
(6)
Separate account
					 contract
means any annuity contract or certificate or funding
					 agreement that provides that the insurer shall allocate the amounts paid to the
					 insurer, in whole or in part, to one or more separate accounts, whether amounts
					 under the contract are credited or are payable in fixed or variable amounts or
					 both.
(7)
Variable
					 benefits
means benefits for which:
(i) amounts credited are a result of direct
					 participation in the actual investment performance of the separate
					 account;
(ii) amounts credited are
					 a result of direct participation in the actual investment performance of the
					 separate account, subject to guaranteed minimum benefits; or
(iii) deferred or immediate annuity payments,
					 after the payments have commenced, reflect direct participation in the actual
					 investment performance of the separate account regardless of whether the
					 payments are subject to a minimum guarantee.
(8)
Accumulated value
means:
(i) for a unitized separate account, the
					 number of accumulation units credited to a contract holder or to a certificate
					 holder, as the case may be, multiplied by the value of an accumulation unit, or
					 the value of a contract holder's or certificate holder's account determined by
					 any other method consistent with Insurance Law section 4240(a)(1);
(ii) for a non-unitized separate account
					 providing variable benefits, any method consistent with Insurance Law section
					 4240(a)(1);
(iii) for a
					 non-unitized separate account that provides fixed benefits other than
					 index-linked benefits, the actual accumulation amount determined in accordance
					 with Insurance Law section 4223(c)(2) for contracts and certificates that would
					 be subject to Insurance Law section 4223 if issued from the general account and
					 the accumulation fund, as defined in Part 40 of this Title (Insurance
					 Regulation 139) for contracts and certificates that would not be subject to
					 Insurance Law section 4223 if issued from the general account;
(iv) for a non-unitized separate account that
					 provides guaranteed index benefits, the greater of the minimum accumulation
					 value and the equity index value determined in accordance with Insurance Law
					 section 4223(c)(4); or
(v) for a
					 non-unitized separate account that provides non-guaranteed index benefits, the
					 non-guaranteed index value determined pursuant to subdivision (d) of section
					 50-2.9  of this Subpart.
(9)
Investment return
means
					 the investment income plus capital gains less capital losses, whether realized
					 or unrealized, on the assets of the separate account, less taxes incurred
					 thereon, adjusted for any increase or decrease in reserves for potential
					 taxes.
(10)
Step
					 credit
means the crediting of a predetermined specified amount in the
					 event of any flat or positive performance of an index.