Ann Young Black is a Partner in the Miami office of Jorden Burt LLP. She counsels financial services clients in their involvement with a broad range of financial and insurance products and related services. Ms. Black also advises clients with respect to a broad range of insurance, regulatory, and business issues.
She regularly advises clients on the developmental and structural issues along with securities, insurance, and commodities regulatory issues in connection with insurance, financial, and retirement plan products. Ms. Black actively advises clients on unclaimed benefits and retained asset account issues. She has been instrumental in advising insurance, related financial, and insurance services companies in innovative life and annuity contracts. She also advises clients as to their development or utilization of hedge funds for insurance products.
Ms. Black counsels financial service clients on the federal and state securities and insurance regulations governing distribution of various financial products. To the extent that new business relationships are needed for the distribution arrangements, she advises clients on the contractual issues.
Ms. Black also advises a wide variety of other clients on: i) legal structure, formation and contractual issues; and ii) securities, insurance and derivatives regulatory matters in a variety of transactions. Ms. Black also provides guidance on federal and state securities issues and insurance regulations with respect to litigation and risk counseling matters and matters involving state insurance market conduct exams, regulatory investigations, and regulatory proceedings.
Representative Matters
· Design and advise on the status of fixed declared rate annuities with market value adjustments and fixed index rate annuities under Section 3(a)(8) of the Securities Act of 1933.
· Design and draft innovative life and annuity contracts, including contingent deferred annuities or synthetic annuities to be sold with managed accounts and bank owned and corporate owned life insurance contracts along with stable value products and advises on various state and insurance issues, including insurable interest, classification as life insurance, and filing issues.
· Develop suitability programs and procedures to comply with the NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transaction Model and state variations.
· Perform risk analysis of products, sales materials and suitability and replacements programs based upon current actions by state attorney generals and insurance regulatory authorities.
· Advise on and respond to attorney general and state insurance regulatory authority investigations and market conduct examinations, including subsequent litigation proceedings.
· Advise on a variety of insurance regulatory matters, including but not limited to: (i) point of sale requirements, including suitability analysis, replacement requirements, and disclosures; (ii) advertising and marketing of life and annuity products, including contract summaries, life and annuity illustrations, television advertisements, and global branding campaigns; (iii) product design, including required provisions for individual and group life and annuity products and nonforfeiture issues; (iv) insurable interest; (v) eligible groups and group coverage issues; (vi) producer, third party administrator and managing general agent licensing, audit and oversight and other related regulatory requirements; and (vii) discrimination, rebating and other unfair trade practice issues.
· Negotiate and draft various insurance service and insurance administrative contracts.
Speeches and Publications
· Speaker: "State Regulation of Annuities and Insurance," ALI-ABA Conference on Life Insurance Company Products, November 2009
· Speaker: "Litigation Update," ACLI Compliance & Legal Section Annual Meeting, July, 2008
· Speaker: "What Not to Do When Developing Your Sales Programs: Recent Trends in Litigation and Compliance," American Bankers Insurance Association, September 2007
· Speaker: "Update on Evolving Litigation Issues Confronting Life Insurers: A Look Over the Shoulder as a Precursor of Things to Come," American Council of Life Insurers Annual Meeting, July 2006
· Contributing Author: Sun Life Financial Distributors, Inc., "Independent Marketing Organizations' Roundtable," April 2006
· Speaker: Sun Life Financial Distributors, Inc., "Independent Marketing Organizations' Roundtable," June 2005
· Contributing Author: ALI-ABA Conference on Life Insurance Products, Variable Insurance Product Compliance: Sarbanes-Oxley Updated and Proposed Rule 38a-1, May 2003
· Speaker: Jorden Burt Anti-Money Laundering Videoconference
· Co-Author ALI-ABA Conference on Life Insurance Litigation, Insurance Market Conduct Litigation: Recent Developments in Jurisdiction, Discovery and Merits Issues, May 1997
Noteworthy
· Formerly, a Certified Public Accountant
Professional Affiliations
· Member, American Bar Association
· Member, Florida Bar Association
· Former Member of the Board and Secretary, National Association of Fixed Annuities
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