18 Del. Admin. Code § 1201-4.0

Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 1201-4.0 - Separate Account or Separate Accounts

4.1 A domestic company licensed to issue variable contracts in this State shall establish one or more separate accounts subject to the following provisions of this Article:

4.1.1 Except as hereinafter provided, the amounts allocated to each separate account established by the insurer pursuant to 18 Del.C. § 2932, together with any accumulations thereon, may be invested and reinvested in any class of investments which may be authorized in written contract or agreement without regard to any other requirements or limitations presented by 18 Del.C. Ch. 13; except that to the extent that the insurer's reserve liability with regard to (i) benefits guaranteed as to dollar amount and duration, and (ii) funds guaranteed as to principal amount or stated rate of interest, is maintained in any separate account, a portion of the assets of such separate account at least equal to such reserve liability shall be invested in accordance with the applicable provisions of 18 Del.C. Ch. 13 governing the investments of life insurance companies. The investments in such separate account or accounts shall not be taken into account in applying the investment limitations applicable to the investments of the insurer.

4.1.2 With respect to 75% of the market value of the total assets in a separate account no company shall purchase or otherwise acquire the securities of any issuer, other than securities issued or guaranteed as to principal or interest by the United States, if immediately after such purchase or acquisition the market value of such investment, together with prior investments of such separate account in such security taken at market, would exceed 10% of the market value of the assets of said separate account; provided, however, that the Commissioner may waive such limitation if, in his opinion, such waiver will not render the operation of such separate account hazardous to the public or the policyholders in this State.

4.1.3 No company shall, whether for its separate accounts or otherwise, invest in the voting securities of a single issuer in an amount in excess of 10% of the total issued and outstanding voting securities of such issuer provided that the foregoing shall not apply with respect to securities held in separate accounts, the voting rights in which are exercisable only in accordance with instructions from persons having interests in such accounts.

4.1.4 The limitations provided in sections 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 shall not apply to the investment with respect to a separate account in the securities of an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, provided that the investments of such investment company comply in substance with sections 4.1.1 and 4.1.2.

4.2 Assets allocated to a separate account shall be valued at their market value on the date of valuation, or if there is no readily available market, then as provided under the terms of the contract or the rules or other written agreement applicable to such separate account; except, that the portion of the assets of such separate account at least equal to the insurers' reserve liability with regard to the guaranteed benefits and funds referred to in section 4.1.1, and 18 Del.C. § 1322, if any, shall be valued in accordance with the rules otherwise applicable to the insurers' assets.

4.3 The income, if any, and gains and losses, realized or unrealized, on each such account, shall be credited to or charged against the amounts allocated to the account in accordance with the agreement, without regard to the other income, gains or losses of the insurer.

4.4 Notwithstanding any other provisions of law a company may:

4.4.1 with respect to any separate account registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a unit investment trust exercise voting rights in connection with any securities of a regulated investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and held in such separate accounts in accordance with instructions from persons having interests in such accounts ratably as determined by the company; or

4.4.2 with respect to any separate account registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a management investment company, establish for such account a committee, board, or other body, the members of which may or may not be otherwise affiliated with such company and may be elected to such membership by the vote of persons having interests in such account ratably as determined by the company. Such committee, board or other body may have the power, exercisable alone or in conjunction with others, to manage such separate account and the investment of its assets.

4.4.3 A company, committee, board or other body may make such other provisions in respect to any such separate account as may be deemed appropriate to facilitate compliance with requirements of any Federal or State law now or hereafter in effect; provided that the Commissioner approves such provisions as not hazardous to the public or the Company's policyholders in this State.

4.5 No sale, exchange or other transfer of assets may be made by a company between any of its separate accounts or between any other investment account and one or more of its separate accounts unless, in case of a transfer into a separate account, such transfer is made solely to establish the account or to support the operation of the account or contracts with respect to the separate account to which the transfer is made, and unless such transfer, whether into or from a separate account, is made (a) by a transfer of cash, or (b) by a transfer of securities having a valuation which could be readily determined in the marketplace, provided that such transfer of securities is approved by the Commissioner. The Commissioner may authorize other transfers among such accounts if, in his opinion, such transfers would not be inequitable.

4.6 The insurer shall maintain in each such separate account assets with a value at least equal to the insurer's reserve liability with regard to (i) benefits guaranteed as to dollar amount and duration and (ii) funds guaranteed as to principal amount or stated rate of interest, which assets shall be invested and valued pursuant to the exception clauses of sections 4.1.1 and 4.2 above, and which assets shall not be chargeable with liabilities arising out of any other business the insurer may conduct.

4.7 Rules under any provision of the Insurance Law of this State or any regulation applicable to the officers and directors of insurance companies with respect to conflicts of interest shall also apply to members of any separate account's committee, board or other similar body. No officer or director of such company nor any member of the committee, board or body of a separate account shall receive directly or indirectly any commission or any other compensation with respect to the purchase or sale of assets of such separate account.

18 Del. Admin. Code § 1201-4.0