Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. A lending
institution or its affiliate may engage in the sale of annuities subject to the
following.
(1) All lending
institution/affiliate employees who are engaged in the sale of annuities must
be licensed to the extent required by the Insurance Code Section 59A-12-6 NMSA
1978.
(2) The lending
institution/affiliate must provide and retain a copy of the disclosure and
written statement signed by the purchaser of the annuity as provided by Section
13 of this regulation [now 12.15.1.13 NMAC].
(3) The lending institution may provide to
affiliates and/or third-party providers only customer name, address, telephone
number and types of products owned. It may not share confidential information,
such as specific or aggregate dollar amounts of investments, deposit balances,
net worth, etc., without the customer's prior acknowledgment and written
consent. The written consent will be on a form specified by the financial
institutions division. This does not limit the lending institution's obligation
to provide information to the insurer in the sale of an annuity
product.
(4) the lending
institution may not underwrite annuities.
B. A lending institution or its affiliate may
enter into an arrangement with a third-party provider under which the lending
institution/affiliate may refer customers directly to the annuity agent for the
sale of annuities. A lending institution or its affiliate may enter into
arrangements with a third-party provider to provide space on lending
institution premises for sale of annuities. Any arrangement between a lending
institution or its affiliate and a third party provider that utilizes space on
the premises of the lending institution to facilitate the sale of annuities
shall be subject to the following general conditions.
(1) The arrangements between a lending
institution/affiliate and a third party provider must be governed by a written
agreement that:
(a) sets forth the
responsibilities of the parties;
(b) specifies the compensation to be received
by the lending institution;
(c)
requires that annuities may be sold only by an annuity agent;
(d) reserves the right of the lending
institution to disapprove the placement or retention of any annuity
agent;
(e) requires the annuity
agent to provide and retain copies of the disclosure and written statement
signed by the purchaser of the annuity in accordance with Section 13 [now
12.15.1.13 NMAC];
(f) requires the
annuity agent or third party provider to receive prior approval of the lending
institution before engaging in any advertising/solicitation that identifies the
name, address or telephone number of the lending institution.
(2) When the annuities sales
program is operated independently by a person that is not an employee or
affiliate of the lending institution and annuities are sold on the premises of
the lending institution, the lending institution must include in the written
agreement with the third party provider language that expressly:
(a) negates a partnership or joint venture
between the lending institution and the annuity agent; and
(b) states that the lending institution has
no right to, and may not attempt to, exercise control over the sale of
annuities by the annuity agent other than as expressly permitted by this
regulation.
(3) When the
annuity sales program is operated by an annuity agent who is also an employee
of the lending institution or affiliate, the written agreement between the
lending institution and third-party provider shall:
(a) define the supervisory responsibilities
of each party to the agreement;
(b)
specify the rights of the respective parties to control the compensation of the
annuity agent;
(c) specify that the
annuity agent will not use bank customer confidential information for
solicitation of annuity products, other than procedures otherwise expressly
authorized by this regulation;
(d)
specify that if a dual employee is terminated by either party to the agreement,
the party causing the termination shall notify the other party of such
termination and the reasons, if any, therefore;
(e) specify that each party to the agreement
shall notify the other party of any investigation or proceeding by a regulatory
or law enforcement authority regarding the employee except as otherwise
prohibited by law.
C. A lending institution shall serve written
notice to the financial institutions division when it has entered into an
agreement required by this regulation.