Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
The following requirements are applicable to all insurers
either seeking authority to issue variable annuities in this state or having
the authority to issue variable annuity products in this state.
(1) Licensing and approval to do business in
this state. An insurer may not deliver or issue for delivery in this state any
variable annuity unless:
(A) the insurer is
licensed or organized to do a life insurance business in this state;
and
(B) after notice and hearing,
the commissioner has authorized, either as part of the insurer's original
certificate of authority or by charter amendment, the insurer to issue,
deliver, and use variable annuity contracts, and only after the commissioner
has considered, among other things, the following:
(i) whether the plan of operation for the
issuance of variable annuity contracts is sound;
(ii) whether the general character,
reputation, and experience of the management and those persons or firms
proposed to supply consulting, investment, administrative, or custodial
services to the insurer are such as to reasonably assure competent operation of
the variable annuity business of the insurer in this state; and
(iii) whether the present and foreseeable
future financial condition of the insurer and its method of operation in
connection with the issuance of such contracts is likely to render its
operation hazardous to the public or its contract holders in this state. The
commissioner will consider, among other things:
(I) the history of operation and financial
condition of the insurer;
(II) the
qualifications, fitness, character, responsibility, reputation, and experience
of the officers and directors and other management of the insurer and those
persons or firms proposed to supply consulting, investment, administrative, or
custodial services to the insurer;
(III) the applicable law and regulations
under which the insurer is authorized in its state of domicile to issue
variable annuity contracts. The state of entry of an alien insurer will be
deemed its state of domicile for this purpose; and
(IV) if the insurer is a subsidiary of or is
affiliated by common management or ownership with another company, its
relationship to such other company, and the degree to which the requesting
insurer, as well as the other company, meets the standards specified in this
subparagraph.
(2) Filing for approval to do business in
this state. Before any insurer may deliver or issue for delivery any variable
annuity contract in this state, it must file with the Department of Insurance
the following information and any other information specifically requested, for
the consideration of the commissioner, on making the determination required by
paragraph (1)(B) of this section:
(A) copies
of and a general description of the variable annuity contracts it intends to
issue;
(B) a general description of
the methods of operation of the variable annuity business of the insurer,
including methods of distribution of contracts and the names of those persons
or firms proposed to supply consulting, investment, administrative, custodial,
or distributive services to the insurer;
(C) with respect to any separate account
maintained by an insurer for any variable annuity, a statement of the
investment policy the insurer intends to follow for the investment of the
assets held in such separate account, and a statement of procedures for
changing such investment policy. The statement of investment policy must
include a description of the investment objectives intended for the separate
account;
(D) a description of any
investment advisory services contemplated as required by §
4.2104 of this title (relating to
Separate Accounts);
(E) a copy of
the statutes and regulations of the state of domicile of a foreign or alien
insurer under which it is authorized to issue variable annuity
contracts;
(F) biographical data
not previously filed with the commissioner with respect to officers and
directors of the insurer on the appropriate biographical form used in Texas;
and
(G) a statement of the
insurer's actuary describing the mortality and expense risks that the insurer
will bear under the contract.