For the first time since 2004, FINRA has proposed major
amendments to its requirements that govern the terms of the
underwriting arrangements for most public offerings of securities
and mandate that such arrangements be submitted to FINRA for
review.
Currently, these requirements specifically exclude offerings of
"variable contracts," as well as "modified
guaranteed annuity contracts and modified guaranteed life insurance
policies." However, it has not been clear whether certain
other insurance product securities, if offered publicly, might be
subject to FINRA's requirements governing underwriting
arrangements. This has included, for example, certain index-linked
annuity contracts and index-linked life insurance policies that are
publicly offered, and do not qualify for the Dodd-Frank Act's
so-called "Harkin Amendment" exclusion from regulation
under the Securities Act of 1933.
