ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York financial officials on Wednesday criticized 17 New York-based life insurers for shifting $48 billion of claim risks to affiliates elsewhere with lower reserve and collateral requirements.
The Department of Financial Services said so-called "shadow insurance" typically offloads potential claims to a subsidiary, freeing the parent company's own reserves for other uses. However, the insurers would often remain responsible for paying claims if subsidiaries' lesser reserves were used up, according to its report.
The department, which investigated practices of 80 New York-based insurers, declined to name the 17 companies but said it stopped approving similar new arrangements in October 2011. The report didn't cite any examples where policyholder claims went unpaid.
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