TN Insurance Bulletin 16-01
TN Insurance Bulletin 16-01: 2017 Operative Date of the Principle-Based Valuation Manual
To:
From:
Re:
Date:
STATE OF TENNESSEE
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INSURANCE
DIVISION OF INSURANCE
500 JAMES ROBERTSON PARKWAY
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37243
TELEPHONE: (615) 741-2199
Bulletin 16-01
All Tennessee Insurance Companies Writing Life Insurance Contracts,
Accident and Health Insurance Contracts, and Deposit-Type Contracts
Julie Mix McPeak, Commissioner~
11.; )1(, f~
2017 Operative Date ofthe Principle-Based Valuation Manual
June 13, 2016
The Tennessee Standard Valuation Law (SVL), Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 56-1-901, et seq.,
establishes a principle-based methodology applicable, subject to specified exemptions, to
life, accident and health, and deposit-type insurance contracts following the "operative
date" of the uniform valuation manual, as adopted by the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
To ensure uniform and simultaneous implementation by participating states, the SVL
instructs that the evaluation manual will only become operative once a sufficient number
of states have adopted substantially similar valuation laws prior to July 1 of the year
preceding the operative date. Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-1-914(b), the operative
date shall be the first day of January of the first calendar year after the first July 1
subsequent to the occurrence of all of the following events:
(1) The valuation manual has been adopted by the NAIC by an affirmative
vote of at least forty-two ( 42) members, or three-fourths (%) of
the members voting, whichever is greater;
(2) The Standard Valuation Law, as amended by the NAIC in 2009, or
legislation including substantially similar terms and provisions, has
been enacted by states representing greater than seventy-five percent
(75%) of the direct premiums written as reported in the following
annual statements submitted for 2008: life, accident and health annual
statements; health annual statements; or fraternal annual statements;
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance
Division of Insurance, Bulletin 16-0 I
June 13, 2016
Page 2 of2
(3) The Standard Valuation Law, as amended by the NAIC in 2009, or
legislation including substantially similar terms and provisions, has
been enacted by at least forty-two ( 42) of the following fifty-five (55)
jurisdictions: The fifty (50) states of the United States, American
Samoa, the American Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam
and Puerto Rico.
The NAIC adopted the valuation manual on December 2, 2012, with forty-three (43)
member jurisdictions voting affirmatively. Additionally, in 2016, the number of states
having adopted principle-based valuation laws at a state level reached the requisite
supermajority. As of today, forty-five ( 45) states, including Tennessee, have advised the
NAIC they have enacted laws substantially similar to the model SVL, including language
using the same three (3) triggers to define the operative date, and these states represent
more than seventy-nine percent (79%) of the applicable premium volume. On Friday,
June 10, 2016, after conducting an extensive analysis of these states' laws, the state and
jurisdictional members of the NAIC voted unanimously to recognize all three (3) triggers
defining the operative date have been satisfied.
Accordingly, I hereby determine the operative date of the uniform valuation manual, for
purposes of the Tennessee Standard Valuation Law, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 56-1-901, et
seq., is January 1, 2017.