Ariz. Admin. Code § R20-6-307 - Life and Disability Reinsurance Agreements

A. Scope. This rule applies to all domestic life and disability insurers and reinsurers, and to all other licensed life and disability insurers and accredited resinsurers that are not subject to a substantially similar rule in their jurisdictions of domicile. This rule applies to the disability business of licensed property and casualty insurers. This rule does not apply to assumption reinsurance, yearly renewable term reinsurance, or nonproportional stop loss or catastrophe reinsurance, or similar forms of nonproportional reinsurance.

B. Definitions

1. "Agreement" means a reinsurance agreement and any amendment to a reinsurance agreement.

2. "Credit Quality" means the risk that invested assets supporting the reinsured business will decrease in value but excludes decreases to changes in interest rate.

3. "Department" means the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions - Insurance Division.

4. "Director" has the same meaning as A.R.S. § 20-102.

5. "Disintermediation" means the risk that interest rates will rise and policy loans and surrenders will increase or maturing contracts will not renew at anticipated rates of renewal.

6. "Lapse" means the risk that a policy will voluntarily terminate before the recoupment of a statutory surplus strain experienced at issuance of the policy.

7. "Reinvestment" means the risk that interest rates will fall and funds reinvested will therefore earn less than expected.

C. Accounting Requirements

1. Unless authorized by the Director, an insurer shall not, for reinsurance ceded, reduce any liability, or establish any asset in any statutory financial statement filed with the Department if, by the terms of the agreement, or in effect, any of the following conditions exist:

a. Renewal expense allowances provided or to be provided to the ceding insurer by the reinsurer in any accounting period are not sufficient to cover the ceding insurer's allocable renewal expenses anticipated at the time the business is reinsured on the portion of the business reinsured, unless a liability is established for the present value of the shortfall using assumptions equal to the applicable statutory reserve basis on the business reinsured.

b. The ceding insurer is required to reimburse the reinsurer for negative experience under the agreement. Neither the offset of the ceding insurer's experience refunds against current and prior years' losses, nor payment by the ceding insurer of an amount equal to the reinsurer's current and prior years' losses upon voluntary termination of in-force reinsurance by the ceding insurer, shall be considered a reimbursement to the reinsurer for negative experience.

c. The ceding insurer may be deprived of surplus or assets at the reinsurer's option or automatically upon the occurrence of a specified event, including the insolvency of the ceding insurer. Termination of the agreement by the reinsurer for nonpayment of reinsurance premiums or other amounts due shall not be considered a deprivation of surplus or assets within the meaning of this subsection.

d. The ceding insurer is required, at scheduled times, to terminate the agreement or recapture automatically all or part of the reinsurance ceded.

e. The ceding insurer may be required to pay the reinsurer amounts other than from income reasonably expected from the reinsured policies.

f. Significant risks inherent in the business reinsured are not transferred to the reinsurer. Table A identifies the risks deemed significant for representative types of business.

g. The credit quality, reinvestment, or disintermediation risk is significant for the business reinsured and the ceding company does not transfer the underlying assets to the reinsurer, segregate the underlying assets in a trust or escrow account, or otherwise segregate the underlying assets. The assets that support the reserves for classes of business that do not have a significant credit quality, reinvestment, or disintermediation risk, or for long-term care or long-term disability insurance, traditional non-par permanent, traditional par permanent, adjustable premium permanent, indeterminate premium permanent, or universal life fixed premium with no dump-in premiums allowed, may be held by the ceding company without segregation. To determine the reserves for classes of business, the supporting assets of which may be held without being segregated, the reserve interest rate adjustment formula shall reflect the ceding company's investment earnings and incorporate all realized and unrealized gains and losses reported in the ceding insurer's statutory financial statement.

h. Settlements are made less frequently than quarterly or payments due from the reinsurer are not made in cash within 90 days of the settlement date.

i. The ceding insurer is required to make representations or warranties unrelated to the business reinsured.

j. The ceding insurer is required to make representations or warranties related to future performance of the business reinsured.

2. An agreement entered into after the effective date of this rule to reinsure business issued before the effective date of the agreement shall be filed by the ceding insurer with the Director within 30 days after execution of the agreement. Each filing shall be accompanied by a description of the corresponding reduction in liabilities or other credit for reinsurance, and any other financial impact of the agreement, reported in the ceding insurer's statutory financial statements. When an increase in surplus net of federal income tax results from an agreement falling under this subsection, the ceding insurer shall separately identify the increase as a surplus item in the aggregate write-ins for gains and losses in surplus in the Capital and Surplus account of the ceding insurer's statutory financial statement. As earnings emerge from the business reinsured, the ceding insurer shall report in its statutory financial statement recognition of surplus increase as income on a net of tax basis as reinsurance ceded.

D. Written Agreements

1. A ceding insurer shall not reduce any liability or establish any asset in any statutory financial statement filed with the Department, unless the ceding insurer and the reinsurer have executed an agreement or a binding letter of intent by the "as of" date of the statutory financial statement.

2. A ceding insurer shall not be allowed a credit for the reinsurance ceded based on a letter of intent unless the ceding insurer and the reinsurer execute an agreement within 90 days from the execution date of the letter of intent.

3. The agreement shall provide that:

a. The agreement constitutes the entire contract between the parties with respect to the business reinsured, and there are no understandings between the parties other than as expressed in the agreement; and

b. Any change or modification to the agreement shall be void unless made by written amendment signed by all parties.

Notes

Ariz. Admin. Code § R20-6-307

Adopted effective February 3, 1993 (Supp. 93-1). R20-6-307 recodified from R4-14-307 (Supp. 95-1). Amended effective December 7, 1995 (Supp. 95-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 29 A.A.R. 739, effective 5/8/2023.