New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 11 - INSURANCE › Chapter III - Policy and Certificate Provisions › Subchapter A - Life, Accident and Health Insurance › Part 54 - Variable Life Insurance › Section 54.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
Wherever used in this Part, the following terms shall have
					 the respective meanings set forth or indicated in this section, unless the
					 context otherwise requires:
(a)
				  Separate account or separate accounts means an account or accounts established
				  pursuant to section 4240  of the Insurance Law, or pursuant to
				  the corresponding section of the insurance law of the state of domicile of a
				  foreign or alien insurer.
(b)
				  General account means all assets of the insurer, other than assets in separate
				  accounts established pursuant to section 4240  of the Insurance Law, or pursuant to
				  the corresponding section of the insurance law of the state of domicile of a
				  foreign or alien insurer, whether or not for variable life insurance.
(c) Special contingent reserve fund means a
				  fund established pursuant to section 4240 (b)  of the Insurance
				  Law.
(d) Net investment return
				  means the rate of investment return to be applied to the benefit
				  base.
(e) Variable life insurance
				  policy means any individual policy which provides for life insurance, the
				  amount or duration of which varies according to the investment experience of
				  any separate account or accounts established and maintained by the insurer with
				  respect to such policy, pursuant to section 4240  of the Insurance Law, or pursuant to
				  the corresponding section of the insurance law of the state of domicile of a
				  foreign or alien insurer.
(f)
				  Variable death benefit means the amount of the death benefit, other than
				  incidental insurance benefits, payable under a variable life insurance policy,
				  dependent on the investment experience of the separate account, and, at the
				  option of the insurer, dependent upon the charging of more favorable mortality
				  and expense charges, if any, than as guaranteed in the contract, which the
				  insurer would have to pay in the absence of any minimum death
				  benefit.
(g) Minimum death benefit
				  means the amount of the guaranteed death benefit, other than incidental
				  insurance benefits, payable under a variable life insurance policy regardless
				  of the investment experience of the separate account if there are no
				  outstanding policy loans, partial withdrawals or partial surrenders.
(h) Incidental insurance benefit means an
				  insurance benefit, in a variable life insurance policy, other than the variable
				  death benefit and the minimum death benefit, and includes, but is not limited
				  to, accidental death and dismemberment benefits, disability benefits,
				  guaranteed insurability options, family income, or term riders.
(i) Benefit base means the amount, specified
				  by the terms of the variable life insurance policy, which is equal to the
				  policy value, and to which the net investment return is applied to determine
				  policy benefits.
(j) Assumed
				  investment rate means the rate of investment return which would be required to
				  be credited to a variable life insurance policy, after deduction of charges for
				  taxes, investment expenses, and mortality and expense guarantees to maintain
				  the variable death benefit equal at all times to the amount of death benefit,
				  other than incidental insurance benefits, which would be payable under the plan
				  of insurance if the death benefit did not vary according to the investment
				  experience of the separate account.
(k) Policy processing day means the day on
				  which charges authorized in the policy are deducted from the policy
				  value.
(l) Scheduled premium policy
				  means any variable life insurance policy under which both the amount and timing
				  of premium payments are fixed by the insurer.
(m) Flexible premium policy means any
				  variable life insurance policy other than a scheduled premium policy as
				  specified in subdivision (l) of this section.
(n) Affiliate of an insurer means any person,
				  directly or indirectly, controlling, controlled by, or under common control
				  with such insurer; any person who regularly furnishes investment advice to such
				  insurer with respect to its separate accounts for which a specific fee or
				  commission is charged; or any director, officer, partner or employee of any
				  such insurer, controlling or controlled person, or person providing investment
				  advice or any member of the immediate family of such person.
(o) Agent means any person, corporation,
				  partnership, or other legal entity which is licensed by this State as a life
				  insurance agent or broker.
(p)
				  Superintendent means the Insurance Superintendent of New York.
(q) Control (including the terms controlling,
				  controlled by and under common control with) means the possession, direct or
				  indirect, 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 or
				  corporate office held by the person. Control shall be presumed to exist if any
				  person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, holds with the power to vote,
				  or holds proxies representing more than 10 percent of the voting securities of
				  any other person. This presumption may be rebutted by a showing made to the
				  satisfaction of the superintendent that control does not exist in fact. The
				  superintendent may determine, after furnishing all persons in interest notice
				  and opportunity to be heard and making specific findings of fact to support
				  such determination, that control exists in fact, notwithstanding the absence of
				  a presumption to that effect.
(r)
				  May is permissive.
(s) Shall is
				  mandatory.
(t) Person means an
				  individual, corporation, partnership, association, trust or fund.
(u) Policy value means the amount, specified
				  by the terms of the variable life insurance policy, to which separately
				  identified mortality, expense or other charges are made.
(v) Cash surrender value means the policy
				  value less any policy-defined surrender charge.
(w) Net cash surrender value means the cash
				  surrender value less any amounts outstanding as policy loans and loan
				  interest.
(x) General account life
				  insurance policy means any life insurance policy other than a variable life
				  insurance policy as specified in subdivision (e) of this section.
(y) Private placement variable life insurance
				  policy means any variable life insurance policy that:
(1) is exempt from registration under the
				  Federal Securities Act of 1933;
(2)
				  includes one or more separate accounts that are exempt from registration as an
				  investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940; and
(3) is only available to an accredited
				  investor, as defined in
				  17 CFR section
				  230.501(a)(2011),[FN*] or to
				  a qualified purchaser, as defined in  15 U.S.C. section 80  a -
				  2(a)(51)(2010).[FN**] Copies of such documents are available for public
				  inspection at the offices of the Department of Financial Services at One
				  Commerce Plaza, Albany, New York 12257 and 25 Beaver Street, New York, New York
				  10004.
[FN*] 17 Code of Federal Regulations section 230.501(a)
					 (revised on April 1, 2011), published by U.S. Government Printing Office,
					 Washington, DC 20401.
[FN**]  15 United States Code section 80  a - 2(a)(51)
					 (revised on February 1, 2010), published by Office of the Law Revision Counsel,
					 U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.