The brackets around the words "or variable" should be |
removed to follow the majority of jurisdictions. Thirty- |
seven jurisdictions [including Guam] currently exclude all |
insurance, endowment and annuity contracts from the |
definition of security. Removal of the brackets around the |
words "or variable," therefore, would incorporate the |
approach taken in the majority of jurisdictions. The removal |
of these brackets also prevents a statutory conflict with |
[up to] 48 jurisdictions that grant the insurance |
commissioner exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the issuance |
and sale of variable contracts. Moreover, this approach |
recognizes that the issuance and sale of variable contracts |
is comprehensively regulated by the Securities and Exchange |
Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers, |
50 state insurance departments, and in the case of group |
life and annuities, the Department of Labor. Like all other |
financial products, this approach imposes only one, rather |
than two, levels of regulation in each state and reflects |
the philosophy of financial services modernization. |