Section 120. Trust agreements qualified under 14VAC5-300-110 and subdivision 2 of § 38.2-1316.4 of the Act

A. When a ceding insurer takes credit pursuant to subdivision 2 of § 38.2-1316.4 of the Act for reinsurance transactions secured by funds held in trust, the underlying trust agreement shall meet the following conditions:

1. The trust agreement shall be entered into between the beneficiary, the grantor and a trustee which shall be a qualified United States financial institution, as those terms are defined in this chapter.

2. The trust agreement shall create a trust account into which assets shall be deposited.

3. All assets in the trust account shall be held by the trustee at the trustee's office in the United States.

4. The trust agreement shall provide that:

a. The beneficiary shall have the right to withdraw assets from the trust account at any time, without notice to the grantor, subject only to written notice from the beneficiary to the trustee;

b. No other statement or document is required to be presented in order to withdraw assets, except that the beneficiary may be required to acknowledge receipt of withdrawn assets;

c. It is not subject to any conditions or qualifications outside of the trust agreement; and

d. It shall not contain references to any other agreements or documents except as provided for under subdivisions 11 and 12 of this subsection.

5. The trust agreement shall be established for the sole benefit of the beneficiary.

6. The trust agreement shall require the trustee to:

a. Receive assets and hold all assets in a safe place;

b. Determine that all assets are in such form that the beneficiary, or the trustee upon direction by the beneficiary, may whenever necessary negotiate any such assets, without consent or signature from the grantor or any other person or entity;

c. Furnish to the grantor and the beneficiary a statement of all assets in the trust account upon its inception and at intervals no less frequent than the end of each calendar quarter;

d. Notify the grantor and the beneficiary, within 10 days, of any deposits to or withdrawals from the trust account;

e. Upon written demand of the beneficiary, immediately take any and all steps necessary to transfer absolutely and unequivocally all right, title and interest in the assets held in the trust account to the beneficiary and deliver physical custody of such assets to such beneficiary; and

f. Allow no substitutions or withdrawals of assets from the trust account, except on written instructions from the beneficiary, except that the trustee may, without the consent of but with notice to the beneficiary, upon call or maturity of any trust asset, withdraw such asset upon condition that the proceeds are paid into the trust account.

7. The trust agreement shall provide that at least 30 days, but not more than 45 days, prior to termination of the trust account, written notification of termination shall be delivered by the trustee to the beneficiary.

8. The trust agreement shall be made subject to and governed by the laws of the state in which the trust is established.

9. The trust agreement shall prohibit invasion of the trust corpus for the purpose of paying compensation to, or reimbursing the expenses of, the trustee. In order for a letter of credit to qualify as an asset of the trust, the trustee shall have the right and the obligation pursuant to the deed of trust or some other binding agreement (as duly approved by the commission), to immediately draw down the full amount of the letter of credit and hold the proceeds in trust for the beneficiaries of the trust if the letter of credit will otherwise expire without being renewed or replaced.

10. The trust agreement shall provide that the trustee shall be liable for its negligence, willful misconduct, or lack of good faith. The failure of the trustee to draw against the letter of credit in circumstances where such draw would be required shall be deemed to be negligence or willful misconduct, or both.

11. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, when a trust agreement is established in conjunction with a reinsurance agreement covering risks other than life, annuities, and accident and health, where it is customary practice to provide a trust agreement for a specific purpose, the trust agreement may provide that the ceding insurer shall undertake to use and apply amounts drawn upon the trust account, without diminution because of the insolvency of the ceding insurer or the assuming insurer, only for the following purposes:

a. To pay or reimburse the ceding insurer for the assuming insurer's share under the specific reinsurance agreement regarding any losses and allocated loss expenses paid by the ceding insurer, but not recovered from the assuming insurer, or for unearned premiums due to the ceding insurer if not otherwise paid by the assuming insurer;

b. To make payment to the assuming insurer of any amounts held in the trust account that exceed 102% of the actual amount required to fund the assuming insurer's obligations under the specific reinsurance agreement; or

c. Where the ceding insurer has received notification of termination of the trust account and where the assuming insurer's entire obligations under the specific reinsurance agreement remain unliquidated and undischarged 10 days prior to the termination date, to withdraw amounts equal to the obligations and deposit those amounts in a separate account, in the name of the ceding insurer in any qualified United States financial institution as defined in § 38.2-1316.1 of the Act apart from its general assets, in trust for such uses and purposes specified in subdivisions 11 a and b of this subsection as may remain executory after such withdrawal and for any period after the termination date.

12. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, when a trust agreement is established to meet the requirements of 14VAC5-300-110 in conjunction with a reinsurance agreement covering life, annuities or accident and health risks, where it is customary to provide a trust agreement for a specific purpose, the trust agreement may provide that the ceding insurer shall undertake to use and apply amounts drawn upon the trust account, without diminution because of the insolvency of the ceding insurer or the assuming insurer, only for the following purposes:

a. To pay or reimburse the ceding insurer for:

(1) The assuming insurer's share under the specific reinsurance agreement of premiums returned, but not yet recovered from the assuming insurer, to the owners of policies reinsured under the reinsurance agreement on account of cancellations of the policies; and

(2) The assuming insurer's share under the specific reinsurance agreement of surrenders and benefits or losses paid by the ceding insurer, but not yet recovered from the assuming insurer, under the terms and provisions of the policies reinsured under the reinsurance agreement;

b. To pay to the assuming insurer amounts held in the trust account in excess of the amount necessary to secure the credit or reduction from liability for reinsurance taken by the ceding insurer; or

c. Where the ceding insurer has received notification of termination of the trust and where the assuming insurer's entire obligations under the specific reinsurance agreement remain unliquidated and undischarged 10 days prior to the termination date, to withdraw amounts equal to the assuming insurer's share of liabilities, to the extent that the liabilities have not yet been funded by the assuming insurer, and deposit those amounts in a separate account, in the name of the ceding insurer in any qualified United States financial institution apart from its general assets, in trust for the uses and purposes specified in subdivisions 12 a and b of this subsection as may remain executory after withdrawal and for any period after the termination date.

13. Either the reinsurance agreement or the trust agreement shall stipulate that assets deposited in the trust account shall be valued according to their current fair market value and shall consist only of cash in United States dollars, certificates of deposit issued by a United States bank and payable in United States dollars, and investments permitted by the Code of Virginia or any combination of the above, provided investments in or issued by an entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with either the grantor or the beneficiary of the trust shall not exceed 5.0% of total investments. The agreement may further specify the types of investments to be deposited. If the reinsurance agreement covers life, annuities or accident and health risks, then the provisions required by this subdivision shall be included in the reinsurance agreement.

B. When a ceding insurer seeks credit pursuant to subdivision 2 of § 38.2-1316.4 for reinsurance transactions secured by funds held in trust, the underlying trust agreement may contain the following provisions subject to all conditions set forth:

1. The trust agreement may provide that the trustee may resign upon delivery of a written notice of resignation, effective not less than 90 days after receipt by the beneficiary and grantor of the notice and that the trustee may be removed by the grantor by delivery to the trustee and the beneficiary of a written notice of removal, effective not less than 90 days after receipt by the trustee and the beneficiary of the notice, provided that no such resignation or removal shall be effective until a successor trustee has been duly appointed and approved by the beneficiary and the grantor and all assets in the trust have been duly transferred to the new trustee.

2. The grantor may have the full and unqualified right to vote any shares of stock in the trust account and to receive from time to time payments of any dividends or interest upon any shares of stock or obligations included in the trust account. Any such interest or dividends shall be either forwarded promptly upon receipt to the grantor or deposited in a separate account established in the grantor's name.

3. The trustee may be given authority to invest, and accept substitutes of, any funds in the account, provided that no investment or substitution shall be made without prior approval of the beneficiary, unless the trust agreement specifies categories of investments acceptable to the beneficiary and authorizes the trustee to invest such funds and to accept such substitutions which the trustee determines are at least equal in current fair market value to the assets withdrawn and that are consistent with the restrictions in subdivision C 1 b of this section.

4. The trust agreement may provide that the beneficiary may at any time designate a party to which all or part of the trust assets are to be transferred. Such transfer may be conditioned upon the trustee receiving, prior to or simultaneously, other specified assets.

5. The trust agreement may provide that, upon termination of the trust account, all assets not previously withdrawn by the beneficiary shall, with written approval by the beneficiary, be delivered over to the grantor.

C. Conditions applicable to reinsurance agreements entered into by a ceding insurer which takes credit pursuant to subdivision 2 of § 38.2-1316.4 for reinsurance transactions secured by funds held in trust.

1. The reinsurance agreement may contain provisions that:

a. Require the assuming insurer to enter into a trust agreement and to establish a trust account for the benefit of the ceding insurer, and specifying what such agreement is to cover;

b. Require the assuming insurer, prior to depositing assets with the trustee, to execute assignments or endorsements in blank, or to transfer legal title to the trustee of all shares, obligations or any other assets requiring assignments, in order that the ceding insurer, or the trustee upon the direction of the ceding insurer, may whenever necessary negotiate any such assets without consent or signature from the assuming insurer or any other entity;

c. Require that all settlements of account between the ceding insurer and the assuming insurer be made in cash or its equivalent; and

d. Stipulate that the assuming insurer and the ceding insurer agree that the assets in the trust account, established pursuant to the provisions of the reinsurance agreement, may be withdrawn by the ceding insurer at any time, notwithstanding any other provisions in the reinsurance agreement, and shall be utilized and applied by the ceding insurer or its successors in interest by operation of law, including without limitations any liquidator, rehabilitator, receiver or conservator of such company, without diminution because of insolvency on the part of the ceding insurer or the assuming insurer, only for the following purposes:

(1) To pay or reimburse the ceding insurer for:

(a) The assuming insurer's share under the specific reinsurance agreement of premiums returned, but not yet recovered from the assuming insurer, to the owners of policies reinsured under the reinsurance agreement because of cancellations of such policies;

(b) The assuming insurer's share of surrenders and benefits or losses paid by the ceding insurer pursuant to the provisions of the policies reinsured under the reinsurance agreement; and

(c) Any other amounts necessary to secure the credit or reduction from liability for reinsurance taken by the ceding insurer; or

(2) To make payment to the assuming insurer of amounts held in the trust account in excess of the amount necessary to secure the credit or reduction from liability for reinsurance taken by the ceding insurer.

2. The reinsurance agreement also may contain provisions that:

a. Give the assuming insurer the right to seek approval (which shall not be unreasonably or arbitrarily withheld) from the ceding insurer to withdraw from the trust account all or any part of the trust assets and transfer such assets to the assuming insurer, provided:

(1) The assuming insurer shall, at the time of such withdrawal, replace the withdrawn assets with other qualified assets having a current fair market value equal to the market value of the assets withdrawn so as to maintain at all times the deposit in the required amount, or

(2) After such withdrawal and transfer, the current fair market value of the trust account is no less than 102% of the required amount.

b. Provide for the return of any amount withdrawn in excess of the actual amounts required for subdivision C 1 d of this section, and for interest payments, at a rate not in excess of the prime rate of interest on such amounts.

c. Permit the award by any arbitration panel or court of competent jurisdiction of:

(1) Interest at a rate different from that provided in subdivision 2 b of this subsection;

(2) Court or arbitration costs;

(3) Attorney's fees; and

(4) Any other reasonable expenses.

D. With regard to financial reporting, a trust agreement may be used to reduce any liability for reinsurance ceded to an unauthorized assuming insurer in financial statements required to be filed with the commission in compliance with the provisions of this chapter when established on or before the date of filing of the financial statement of the ceding insurer. Further, the reduction for the existence of an acceptable trust account may be up to the current fair market value of acceptable assets available to be withdrawn from the trust account at that time, but such reduction shall be no greater than the specific obligations, as defined in this chapter, under the reinsurance agreement that the trust account was established to secure.

E. With regard to existing agreements and notwithstanding the effective date of this chapter, any trust agreement or underlying reinsurance agreement in existence prior to July 1, 2012, will continue to be acceptable until January 1, 2013, at which time the agreements will have to be in full compliance with this chapter for the trust agreement to be acceptable.

F. The failure of any trust agreement to specifically identify the beneficiary as defined in 14VAC5-300-40 shall not be construed to affect any actions or rights which the commission may take or possess pursuant to the provisions of the laws of this Commonwealth.

Historical Notes

Derived from Regulation 43, Case No. INS910307, § 13, eff. March 1, 1992; amended, Volume 29, Issue 04, eff. January 1, 2013.

Statutory Authority

§§ 38.2-223, 38.2-1316.7 and 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.