Insurance Professionals Comment on Kyle Busch Case
Perspectives on the Kyle and Samantha Busch v. Pacific Life IUL lawsuit from Sheryl Moore, Bobby Samuelson, David Macchia, Larry Rybka, Peter Gould, Antoine Orr, Barry Flagg, and Tom...
Regulations/Legal
Pacific Life’s Motion to Dismiss the Busch’s Suit: Excerpts
Pacific Life's motion to dismiss the Busches' complaint against it was filed January 22, 2026 in U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina, by the law firms of...
Kyle Busch’s Crash Course in IUL
An indexed universal life policy demands about as little maintenance as an eight-cylinder, 750-horsepower, 200-mph NASCAR stock car. And in the hands of an unskilled, or untrustworthy driver, or...
How the ‘Harkin Amendment’ Enabled the ‘Bermuda Triangle’
My bias regarding the Bermuda Triangle' was confirmed when I read “The Law of Capitalism” (Yale, 2025) and “The Code of Capital” (Princeton, 2019) by Columbia law professor Katharina...
RIJ and ChatGPT Discuss ‘Business Development Companies’
In the many-layered world of private credit, 'business development companies' are an important component. Their bland name tells us nothing. But what are they exactly, and what role could...
The Year of Living Uncertainly
The life insurance industry is sensitive to changes in interest rates and in regulations, and President Trump appears bent on lowering rates and removing regulations that he doesn't...
Crypto-Blitz: A Timeline of Presidential Emolument
As president, Donald Trump is in a unique position to connect the public purse to his own purse, and so far he's shown no resistance to temptation. The Wall...
Crypto no longer requires ‘extreme care’ from plan sponsors: DOL
'The Biden administration’s Department of Labor made a choice to put their thumb on the scale,' said U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a May 28 release....
Warring Watchdogs: NAIC and FIO
'The Federal Insurance Office conflicts with the states’ role as primary regulators, complicates their engagement with fellow insurance regulators globally, duplicates data collection from our industry,' said state...
Cross-Fire: NAIC and Fed Economists Release Same-Day Zingers
On March 21, Federal Reserve economists published research warning about increases in high-risk lending by U.S. life insurers. On the same day, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners asked...
Open Letter to NAIC’s Life Actuarial Task Force
'You encourage and abet the whack-a-mole behavior of insurers that regulators have tolerated in the industry—to the detriment of consumers... I don't want to be left holding the (empty)...
Open Letter to Scott O’Neal, Actuary, NAIC
'In the 12 years since , insurance regulators have done little other than allow this situation to now mushroom,' writes Rybka, a prominent...
DOL names new members of ERISA Advisory Council
The 15-member council provides advice on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
The Past and Possible Future of ERISA Regulation of Advice
Could the 'NeverEnding Story' of the Labor Department's fiduciary rule possibly be coming to an end? We may be close to a final answer, writes ERISA attorney Andrew L....
‘Asset-intensive’ annuity reinsurance has NAIC’s attention
At an Oct. 24 meeting, the NAIC's Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) continued to hammer out a new guideline for 'asset adequacy testing' of offshore reinsurance reserves. Starting in...
Sen. Warren Speaks Up for ‘Fiduciary Rule,’ Puts Down Annuity Sales Perks
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) new white paper details the sales incentives that annuity issuers offer insurance agents; the incentives, she says, show that the DOL's long-denied 'fiduciary rule' is...
The case for affiliated reinsurance in the Cayman Islands
The Cayman Island's "legislative and regulatory regime is less prescriptive and therefore affords prospective Cayman reinsurers greater flexibility to propose a bespoke capital model to our regulator without being...
Here Come the Suits
Close observers of the 'Bermuda Triangle' strategy weren't surprised when class action lawsuits were filed against AT&T, State Street Global Advisors and Lockheed Market for their choice of Athene...
This Year’s Legal Battles
The life/annuity industry faces three big legal issues this year. All stem from, or are complicated by, the patchwork regulation of financial products in the US, our out-of-date pension...
NAIC Urged to Limit ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Strategy
'The ability of insurers to significantly lower the total asset requirement for long-duration blocks of business that rely heavily on asset returns appears to be one of the drivers...
