By NAIC
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) proposed 2015 budget is proceeding through the approval process, following months of development by NAIC officers, the NAIC Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee, the NAIC Executive (EX) Committee and NAIC staff members.
“We’re proud that our 2015 proposed budget demonstrates the NAICs continued focus on carefully managing our revenue and expenses while balancing investment in key initiatives that enhance our ability to support our members”, said Monica J. Lindeen, NAIC President-Elect and Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.
The NAIC is committed to protecting insurance consumers and providing our members with the tools and resources they need to effectively regulate companies.
The NAIC’s proposed 2015 budget includes total revenues (including investment income) of $94.3 million and total expenses of $96.1 million, which represents a 1.1 percent and 3.4 percent increase, respectively, from the 2014 budget.
There are seven Business and Fiscal Impact Statements (fiscals) proposed in the 2015 budget:
1. State Based Systems (SBS) Software Enhancement and Technology Compliance Initiative Phase III. This is the third and final phase of a multi-year project to redesign SBS services by updating the architecture and tool set, providing enhanced performance, stability and scalability. This system is scheduled to be implemented in the first half of 2016.
2. Securities System Rewrite (SSR) Expanded Phase I. This is an expansion of the first phase of a multi-year project to redesign and replace the existing securities system and its components, while incorporating new business processes to support the Securities Valuation Office (SVO), the Capital Markets Bureau (CMB) and the Structured Securities Group (SSG).
3. SERFF Integration Expansion. This initiative will enhance SERFF licensee/user back office operations by automating the ability to extract product filing information from SERFF, after state review and/or approval for the purpose of enhancing company reporting, tracking and compliance.
4. State Producer Licensing (SPL) Team Augmentation. This proposal will provide additional support to the SPL team and ensure the products they support can continue to be enhanced and maintained in a timely and cost-efficient manner.
5. Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) Resource for Structured Securities Group (SSG). The Structured Securities Group (SSG) was formed in mid-2013 and is comprised of three NAIC staff. Currently a full-time consultant monitors and evaluates commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). This fiscal adds a full-time position in place of the consulting expense to expand CMBS monitoring which is critical given the importance of commercial properties in an insurance company’s investment portfolio.
