NAII Hosts Conference Addressing OFAC Regulation

The National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) and Chicago-based law firm Lord, Bissell and Brook will host an industry-wide informational conference June 20 to discuss the insurance industry’s compliance concerns with a federal regulation that list foreign entities with which insurance companies can no longer transact business.

A representative from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will address the practical application of OFAC’s regulation to insurers and participate in a roundtable discussion to address concerns with complying with the regulations at NAII headquarters in Des Plaines.

“I expect this seminar will enable insurance companies to obtain some answers from the Treasury Department regarding the problems our industry is facing with OFAC’s foreign business transactions bans,” Kathleen Jensen, NAII insurance services counsel, commented.

President Bush issued an executive order on Sept. 24, 2001 that mandates U.S. underwriters, brokers, agents, primary insurers, reinsurers and U.S. citizen employees of foreign firms in the industry are prohibited from engaging in transactions with individuals, government entities, officials and companies from Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba or the Taliban in Afghanistan; companies organized or controlled in Cuba; Cuban citizens; and other individuals, entities or vessels appearing on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. According to the regulations, all property-including insurance contracts-in which there is a direct or indirect interest in these entities is blocked or “frozen.”

The conference will address procedural issues that have surfaced for insurance companies from OFAC’s regulation, including:

The inability of an insurance company to cancel a policy mid-term with an individual on the OFAC list per state insurance regulations.

The uncertainty of individuals insured under a reinsurance contract or who purchased a policy over the Internet.

Name and entities continue to be added to the OFAC list, and are available for review from the OFAC Web site at http://www.treas.gov/ofac.