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 50-1 - Separate Accounts and Separate Account Contracts Prior to January 1, 2023 › Section 50-1.3 - Separate accounts

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Every
					 separate account established pursuant to section 4240  of the Insurance Law, as amended,
					 shall be subject to the following provisions of this section:
(1) Except as may otherwise be permitted in
					 writing by the superintendent, every company shall maintain in each separate
					 account assets with a value at least equal to the reserves and other contract
					 liabilities with respect to such account.
(2) A separate account annuity contract may
					 provide, pursuant to section 4240 (a)(12)  of the
					 Insurance Law, that the portion of the assets of the separate account not
					 exceeding the reserves and other contract liabilities with respect to such
					 separate account shall not be chargeable with liabilities arising out of any
					 other business of the insurer.
(3)
					 No sale, exchange or other transfer of assets may be made by a company between
					 any of its separate accounts or between any other investment account and one or
					 more of its separate accounts unless, in case of a transfer into a separate
					 account, such transfer is made solely to establish the account or to support
					 the operation of the contracts with respect to the separate account to which
					 the transfer is made, and unless such transfer, whether into or from a separate
					 account, is made:
(i) by a transfer of cash;
					 or
(ii) by a transfer of securities
					 having a valuation which can be readily determined in the marketplace, provided
					 that such transfer of securities is approved by the superintendent.
The superintendent may authorize other transfers among
						such accounts if, in the superintendent's opinion, such transfers would not be
						inequitable.
(4)
					 Notwithstanding the restrictions and limitations on investments imposed by
					 section 4240 (a)(2)  of the
					 Insurance Law or any other provision of law, the assets allocated to any
					 separate account may be invested in the securities of an investment company
					 subject to or registered pursuant to the Federal Investment Company Act of
					 1940, as amended, provided that:
(i) the
					 insurance company has satisfied the superintendent that such investment by the
					 separate account is not hazardous to the public or the policyholders of the
					 insurance company in this State;
(ii) the investments of such investment
					 company comply with the restrictions and limitations on investments by the
					 insurance company imposed by section 4240 (a)(2)  of the
					 Insurance Law and any other provisions of such law; and
(iii) if, subsequent to the purchase of the
					 securities of such investment company, its investments cease to comply fully
					 with the restrictions and limitations imposed by subparagraph (ii) of this
					 paragraph, then all separate accounts shall cease investing in the securities
					 of such investment company and existing separate account investments in the
					 securities of such investment company shall be recognized as admitted assets,
					 for the purposes of subdivision (a)(1) of this section, only to the extent that
					 they comply with subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph.
(5) Expenses shall be allocated to the
					 separate account business in accordance with the provisions of section 4240 (a)(6)  of the
					 Insurance Law and Part 91 (Regulation 33) of this Title.)
(6) Conflict of interest rules under any
					 provision of the Insurance Law or any regulation promulgated thereunder which
					 are applicable to the officers or directors of insurance companies shall also
					 apply to the members of the committee, board or other similar body of every
					 separate account. No officer or director of any company maintaining a separate
					 account nor any member of the committee, board or other similar body of the
					 separate account shall receive, in addition to a fixed salary or compensation,
					 any commission, other compensation, money or valuable thing either directly or
					 indirectly, with respect to the purchase, sale or loan of the assets of the
					 separate account.
(7) A separate
					 account annuity contract may provide, as an incidental benefit, for the payment
					 of a death benefit in the event of death prior to the annuity commencement
					 date. The amount of such death benefit shall not exceed the greater of:
(i) the accumulated value of the contract;
					 or
(ii) the aggregate amount of
					 stipulated payments or employee contributions, whichever is applicable, made
					 under the contract prior to the time of death.
A reserve liability for any such incidental benefit in
						excess of the accumulated value of the contract shall be accumulated and
						maintained in the general account of the company and must be in compliance with
						Part 99 of this Title. Any such death benefit provision which complies with the
						requirements of this paragraph shall not be subject to the provisions of the
						Insurance Law applicable to life insurance contracts. However, any other death
						benefit provision during the deferred period shall be subject to such Insurance
						Law provisions.
(8) A separate account annuity contract may
					 provide that, at the time the annuity becomes payable, the insurer may, at its
					 option, in lieu of commencing annuity payments, cancel the annuity and pay the
					 contractholder its accumulated value, if such accumulated value is less than
					 $2,000, or would provide an income the initial amount of which is less than $20
					 per month or if the amount of the annuity does not meet other minimum
					 requirements as approved in writing by the superintendent.