July 11, 2008
I don't really understand why the SEC has gotten their nose into Equity Indexed Annuities. They were give the opportunity to be involved at the onset but chose not to. Now that the product is popular and variable annuities have lost their luster they are interested.The product according to the definitions should clearly stay in the realm of the insurance industry. If they gain oversight responsability then the product will become less sold. I don't believe that the SEC needs to get involved in the regulation of this product unless the insurance industry is not policing it properly. The SEC needs to spend more time policing their own industry and deal with the bad apples in that sector. The one that will ultimately lose out if the SEC controls this will be the clients. I am against the SEC's report and the direction they are taking.