NAIC Fall 2017 National Meeting Update – Blanks Working Group

The Blanks Working Group (BWG) held a conference call on November 9 in lieu of meeting at the NAIC Fall 2017 National Meeting to discuss private letter (PL) and reporting exception (RE) designations for bonds and preferred stocks, categories for bank loans, and more.

Withdrawn Proposal

NEW PL/RE DESIGNATIONS FOR BONDS AND PREFERRED STOCKS

Item #2017-07BWG proposed that designations be added to the Designation Column of Schedules D and BA. The designations would be effective during the first quarter of 2018 and would reflect PL and RE suffixes for bonds and preferred stocks. However, due to changing requirements and implementation dates, both Industry and the Valuations of Securities Task Force (VOSTF) requested that the current proposal to the BWG be withdrawn. The VOSTF will make final revisions to the Purposes & Procedures (P&P) Manual and submit a new proposal to the BWG.

Adopted Editorial Revisions

ADDED CODE TO PREFERRED STOCK DESIGNATION MATRICES

The BWG updated the preferred stock designation matrices of the investment schedule instructions to include acceptable designations using the General Interrogatory suffix:

• P5*GI
• P5*AGI
• P5*LGI
• P5*UGI
• P5*VGI
• RP5*GI
• RP5*AGI
• RP5*LGI
• RP5*UGI
• RP5*VGI

For the holdings report (Schedule D—Part 2, Section 1), these additional designations are effective for annual 2017 reporting. For the Activities reports (Schedule D—Parts 3 and 4), these additional designations are effective for quarterly 2018 reporting.

MODIFIED REFERENCES IN INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBSIDIARY, CONTROLLED, AND AFFILIATED ENTITIES

As a result of guidance moving from the P&P Manual to SSAP No. 97—Subsidiary, Controlled, and Affiliated Entities, the BWG made minor revisions to update references in columns 6 and 7 of the Schedule D—Part 6, Section 1.

Exposed for Comment

ITEM #2017-24BWG: ADDED CATEGORY LINES FOR BANK LOANS

Due to changes made to SSAP No. 26R by the Statutory Accounting Principles Working Group (SAPWG), the BWG has proposed adding new category lines to distinguish bank loans on the Schedule D—Parts 1, 3, 4, and 5, Schedule DA, Schedule DL—Parts 1 and 2, and Schedule E—Part 2, as well as adjust resulting category line number references. The proposed changes would be effective for annual 2018 reporting, and applicable to all insurers that hold bank loan securities. The comment deadline for this change is February 26, 2018.

ITEM #2017-25BWG: ADDED LANGUAGE FOR RESTRICTED CASH

The BWG also exposed changes made to the cash flow statement as a result of changes made by the SAPWG to SSAP No. 69—Statement of Cash Flows. The proposed changes would modify the annual statement instructions for all insurers to clarify inclusion of restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents in beginning and ending balances in the cash flow statement. These changes would be effective for annual 2019 reporting, and commentary on this item ends February 26, 2018.

UPDATE ON COMBINED LIFE/FRATERNAL ANNUAL BLANKS

The BWG previously received a request from Industry during the Spring 2017 National Meeting to combine the Life and Fraternal blanks. The BWG heard an update on the combining of the annual financial statement blanks, which included responses to memorandums sent to applicable NAIC working groups and task forces. After reviewing these responses, NAIC staff will develop a draft proposal of the combined blanks and consult with Industry for initial comments.