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NAIFA Applauds Re-Introduction of NARAB II Legislation

Bill Would Streamline Multi-State Licensing and Ease Administrative Burdens

FALLS CHURCH, VA (May 21, 2009) — Today, Representatives David Scott (D-GA) and Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) along with more than 30 of their House colleagues reintroduced the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act for consideration by the 111th Congress. The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) supports the bill, referred to as NARAB II, because it would streamline the multi state licensing requirements for producers.  

Contact:

Lee Allen, Vice President of Communications and Marketing, NAIFA
(703) 770-8112 (office)
(703) 336-2462 (mobile)

NAIFA members help 75 million American families secure their financial futures through the purchase of financial protection products such as life insurance annuities, long-term care insurance, and disability income insurance. However, varying licensing compliance requirements from state-to-state make it unnecessarily burdensome for an agent to follow a client to another state when he or she moves.  As a result, NAIFA members frequently have to refer their clients to another agent.

“The relationships our members have with their clients are based on a trust developed through years of providing important guidance and assistance in preparing for life’s inevitable risks of dying too soon, living too long, becoming sick or disabled and/or needing long term care,” wrote NAIFA President Cliff Wilson CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, CLF and CEO John Healy, CAE in an April 27 letter to the House and Senate. “…in today’s increasingly mobile world, it is a disservice to insurance consumers to have a regulatory system in place that makes it difficult for a consumer to retain their agent when they move to another state.”

The legislation makes NARAB membership optional and does not create a federal regulator for insurance or aim to reduce current agent licensing standards. NARAB members would be subject to a single set of continuing education requirements for all of their non-resident licenses. The licensing standards would be set by a governing board of 11 members appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Along with paying membership fees as established by the NARAB Board, agents applying for membership would be required to submit to a criminal background check. Currently only 17 states require a federal criminal background checks of their licensed producers.  NAIFA supports protecting all consumers by mandating fingerprinting and federal criminal background checks of all insurance producers.

NARAB II passed the U.S. House of Representatives on September 17, 2008 but did not see further legislative action before the 110th Congress adjourned in December 2008.

About NAIFA: NAIFA comprises more than 700 state and local associations representing the interests of approximately 200,000 agents and their associates nationwide. NAIFA members focus their practices on one or more of the following: life insurance and annuities, health insurance and employee benefits, multiline, and financial advising and investments. The Association’s mission is to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of its members.