NAIC releases laws and practices report

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners released its review of state producer-licensing laws and practices. The 53-page assessment details areas where reciprocity and uniformity initiatives must improve in states, and it also outlines the progress made in paperless initiatives and regulatory compliance. Notably, the review showed that states have made major strides in moving their license processing and renewal procedures to an electronic method: 46 states process non-resident licenses this way, and all 50 have nixed their paper certifications altogether. Forty-seven of the states have stopped disclosing Social Security numbers when agents get their licenses, opting instead for a National Producer Number. However, the assessment found that although states were highly compliant with 26 out of 37 Uniform Resident Licensing Standards, there was still room for improvement. For instance, 39 states were out of compliance with a fingerprinting requirement. Areas of high compliance included enforcement, repeating of continuing education course, and background checks. A group of volunteer regulators traveled to 52 member jurisdictions over a three-month period to create the assessment.