NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 10 – The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia issued the following news release:

Danny Marks, 41, from Chesapeake, Va., was sentenced in Norfolk federal court today to two years and two months in prison for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. The charge relates to a scheme to defraud life insurance companies out of millions of dollars.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Marks was sentenced by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Marks and co-defendant Mitchell Marks both pled guilty on October 4, 2010. Mitchell Marks was sentenced last week, on January 5th, to 10 years in prison by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

According to court documents, Danny Marks conspired to take out multiple life insurance policies on older and sicker family members. In order to obtain the policies, material misrepresentations on the insurance applications were made. The misrepresentations included the number of life insurance policies that were in force on the proposed insured, relationships, and the health and condition of the proposed insured. Court documents also showed that imposters were sent to take insurance medical examinations, so they could pass the exam and get the best rates on the policies. Attempts to obtain life insurance policies with an aggregate value greater than $16 million were made and payouts from multiple policies in excess of $3.5 million on the deaths of two individuals were received.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph L. Kosky is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia athttp://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia athttp://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

BOSTON & LONDON, Nov 29, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — State Street Corporation(STT 43.32, -0.52, -1.19%), one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, today released its latest Vision paper examining the opportunities and challenges facing the life insurance industry. Entitled “Life Insurance: Focused on Growth,” the report assesses the current life insurance landscape and highlights growing changes in client needs. It also explores solutions to the urgent challenges the life insurance industry is experiencing as demographics shift and markets evolve. This new Vision paper follows State Street’s initial report on the insurance industry published in 2007.

“Around the globe, retirement savings needs are rapidly changing and a new lifetime savings industry based on a more holistic, lifelong approach is taking shape to meet those needs,” said Wade McDonald, head of client management and sales for State Street’s Global Services business in the UK, Middle East and Africa. “To compete effectively in this new environment, life insurers must look holistically at product offerings and develop financial products that deliver performance, manage risk, and provide value. Both banks and insurers will be actively involved in developing new approaches to address the challenges that the industry faces.”

The need to develop the appropriate solutions for this new environment is sparking an evolution in life insurance product development.

The Vision paper states, “In the emerging environment, the first priority for insurers is to make products that consumers want and need, and deliver them in the right way. The products offered must evolve to reflect a holistic approach to financial planning that answers a lifetime of needs and they must be accessible in a way that acknowledges the changes in how products are purchased today.”

Life insurers face significant operational implications as the industry landscape changes. With new regulatory requirements, managing the liability side more carefully and improving risk management are key priorities. Insurers must also clearly distinguish core and non-core business activities.

According to the Vision paper, “Against the backdrop of demands on optimization of capital and a redefinition of the value chain, insurers must first more closely examine what business activities are “core” and “non-core,” and actively seek to outsource those elements that are not core to the business.”

State Street’s Vision Series of in-depth reports is intended to advance understanding of key themes and trends in the financial services industry. A copy of this life insurance paper can be downloaded at www.statestreet.com/vision or to order a hard copy, email vision@statestreet.com. Previous papers in State Street’s Vision series address a range of topics, including pensions, UCITS IV, sovereign wealth funds and exchange-traded funds.

About State Street

State Street Corporation (STT 43.32, -0.52, -1.19%) is one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $20.2 trillion in assets under custody and administration, and $1.9 trillion in assets under management at September 30, 2010, State Street operates in 25 countries and more than 100 geographic markets worldwide. For more information, visit State Street’s website at www.statestreet.com.

SOURCE: State Street Corporation

Oct. 14–REPORTING FROM SACRAMENTO – Two state assemblymen not much known beyond their districts are vying for a statewide office that has ample authority over automobile, home and life insurance coverage and is getting more power from the landmark federal healthcare law.

——

FOR THE RECORD:

Insurance commissioner: An Oct. 14 article in Business said Harvey Rosenfield of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog personally endorsed Democrat Dave Jones forCalifornia insurance commissioner. In fact, Rosenfield has not endorsed any candidate in the race.

——

The winning candidate for insurance commissioner — either Democrat Dave Jones ofSacramento or Republican Mike Villines of Clovis – will have a chance to help set up state programs as part of President Obama ’s national healthcare overhaul.

The commissioner runs the California Department of Insurance, which oversees a $124-billion market. As one of the larger state agencies, it has an annual budget of $150 million and 1,100 employees.

And because the agency licenses 340,000 insurance professionals and more than 1,500 companies to ensure that customers are treated fairly and claims are paid on time, both candidates have said they won’t take campaign money from the industry.

How the commissioner regulates the insurance industry affects business and individuals “every day,” said Mark Savage , a senior attorney at the West Coast office of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine.

Modern market economies depend on affordable and available insurance to help people deal with risk and plan for their future, Savage said.

As candidates, both Jones and Villines tout their pro-consumer credentials. But just what that means is a function of their opposing political philosophies.

Jones, an activist lawmaker, said he would be a strong regulator who would keep insurers on a tight leash. “The biggest issue is making sure that California consumers andCalifornia businesses are protected against abusive insurance industry practices,” he said.

Villines wants to limit government intervention in the market and use his office to bring down costs by fostering competition. “If the costs are too high or the providers too few,” he said, “the businesses that are now struggling to keep their doors open in this economy will have one more reason to move their jobs to another state.”

Jones’ and Villines’ views particularly diverge on health insurance, though both support a new California law that creates a state-run exchange to provide coverage for people who can’t get private insurance.

Jones would go further to keep a lid on rates and provide support for the state’s 6 million people without health insurance. In the past, he has authored bills — never passed — to create a Canadian-style, government-run single-payer system.

This year, a Jones-sponsored bill signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bans price discrimination against women in the individual health insurance market. Villines opposed the measure because he said it would increase costs.

Jones also wants to curb skyrocketing premiums for individual health insurance with proposals to give the commissioner the same power to approve healthcare rates that the commissioner now has over most types of property and casualty insurance.

“I believe this is one of the missing pieces of U.S. health reform,” he said.

Villines supports creating a strong, government-backed healthcare safety net to care for people who need help, while maintaining “a vibrant private sector” for for-profit companies. “We shouldn’t be afraid to have more people insured,” he said.

Villines also would monitor insurers closely to make sure they only cancel a sick person’s coverage if the companies can prove that the insured submitted a seriously fraudulent application.

But overall, Villines said, he opposes the president’s health insurance plan, especially its mandate that all individuals participate in the program.

With less than three weeks until election day, the leaders of three major consumer organizations have endorsed Jones.

Harvey Rosenfield , author of Proposition 103, the 1988 initiative that created the job of elected insurance commissioner, personally endorsed Jones. His Santa Monica group, Consumer Watchdog, is prohibited by law from making similar endorsements.

Amy Bach , executive director of San Francisco’s United Policyholders, also personally endorsed Jones. However, Bach noted that Villines canceled three appointments to meet with her.

The Consumer Federation of California in San Mateo endorsed Jones. It gave him a 99% pro-consumer voting record on the group’s “legislative scorecards” and gave Villines a 15% score.

Jones and Villines pointedly distanced themselves from the politically powerful insurance industry by refusing to accept campaign contributions from insurers.

Jones returned $8,400 in contributions collected earlier from insurance companies by his 2008 Assembly committee. In contrast, Villines transferred $54,300 in previous insurance contributions to his insurance commissioner’s campaign, state filings show.

Villines said he had “not taken a penny from insurance companies since I announced I was running” for insurance commissioner in June 2009.

Villines, though, is benefiting indirectly from insurance company financial support.

Various companies contributed to a political action committee controlled by the California Chamber of Commerce. The committee is airing independent television advertisements in praise of Villines and in opposition to Jones.

In September, the committee spent nearly $2 million on a pro-Villines TV blitz. This month it reported spending $280,000 on “media production” for ads against Jones.

Recent campaign finance report showed contributions from insurance companies totaling$1.26 million. The largest was $525,000 from George Joseph , chairman of Mercury General Corp.

Jones said he expected the chamber’s TV campaign against him to cost more than $5 million.

The chamber said its expenditure against Jones was part of its “long history of electing pro-jobs candidates.”

Villines said he had no control over what the chamber did.

For his part, Jones held a fundraiser last month in his hometown of Chicago that was attended by Florida lawyer Norman Taplin and his associates, including former insurance executives and regulators.

Taplin said on his website that “he utilizes his 30 years of experience as an insurance regulatory attorney to give his clients privileged access to the country’s insurance/regulatory decision makers.”

Jones said he received the contributions as part of a larger breakfast fundraiser. He said he was unaware of the background of Taplin and the other contributors until getting an inquiry from a reporter.

On Oct. 7, Jones returned $5,000 in contributions to Taplin and his associates.

http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net/

DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)– President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law on July 21, 2010, setting into motion a series of studies and regulatory analyses that may permanently alter the way the financial services industry interacts with American consumers.(1) As indicated by its title, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act aims to more closely regulate banks while protecting consumers from predatory lenders and other deceptive practices.

Transamerica Life Insurance Company now offers two separate white papers describing how the new financial reform law affects the business practices of financial service providers and what it means for consumers. Financial professionals can use the “Wall Street Reform and the Financial Services Industry” piece to educate themselves while sharing the “Wall Street Reform and the American Public” version with their clients.

“The white papers provide an analysis of the matters most important to financial professionals and their clients,” says Blake Bostwick, Chief Operating Officer of Transamerica Capital, Inc. “Creating informational resources and thought leadership pieces will be a continued focus for us. We plan to roll out The Forum in 2011, which is a comprehensive program that will help educate and guide the financial professionals we work with, so they can better serve their clients.”

In the “Wall Street Reform and the Financial Services Industry” analysis, the new law is explained, including:

• A description of potential effects for a financial professional and their business
• The components of proposed industry-wide oversight
• The implications of industry-specific oversight
• An estimated cost to the financial services industry

The “Wall Street Reform and the American Public” edition describes how the new law affects consumers, such as:

• The establishment of new consumer education programs
• Revised mortgage lending rules
• A new government program offering free credit scores

Transamerica’s examination of the latest financial regulatory overhaul is a useful addition to a financial professional’s practice, enabling them to better educate themselves, and can assist them in explaining the implications of the new law to their clients.

Financial professionals may obtain both versions by calling the Transamerica sales desk at 1-800-851-7555. Investors interested in learning more should speak with their financial professional or contact the customer care group at 1-800-525-6205.

1. WhiteHouse.gov. President Obama Signs Wall Street Reform: “No Easy Task”.WhiteHouse.gov. [Online] July 21, 2010. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/21/president-obama-signs-wall-street-reform-no-easy-task.

Annuities issued by Transamerica Life Insurance Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Company in Harrison, New York. (Transamerica) Annuities are underwritten and distributed by Transamerica Capital, Inc. Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Company is licensed in New York.

About Transamerica

Transamerica companies market an array of life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and investments designed to help individuals, families, and businesses build, protect and preserve their assets. The Transamerica companies are members of the AEGON companies. For more information about Transamerica, visit www.transamerica.com.

About Transamerica Capital, Inc.

Transamerica Capital, Inc. is the underwriting and wholesaling broker/dealer for variable annuities issued by Transamerica Life Insurance Company and Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Company. All of these companies are AEGON companies. Transamerica Capital, Inc. works with financial professionals at wirehouse, regional, independent, and bank firms to provide a variety of insurance and investment solutions.

About AEGON N.V.

AEGON N.V., based in The Hague, The Netherlands, has life insurance, pension and investment businesses in over 20 markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. AEGON companies employ approximately 28,000 people and have over 40 million customers across the globe. For more information about AEGON, visit www.aegon.com.

http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net/

The nonprofit LIFE Foundation has joined forces with more than 100 of the nation’s top life insurance companies in an effort to increase awareness among Americans. Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM) was created in 2004 as an industry-wide effort held annually during the month of September.

“My father never thought he’d die at such a young age, but he loved his family enough to expect the unexpected,” said Bibb. “His life insurance was his legacy of love to our family, allowing us to carry on with our lives and to continue living. Sometimes the worst happens and thankfully for my family, my father had planned ahead.” —Leslie Bibb, LIAM Spokesperson

In addition to featuring actress Leslie Bibb as the national spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month, LIFE’s theme for the 2010 campaign will be the “Wonders of Life,” a theme first introduced during LIAM 2009.

“The ‘Wonders of Life’ theme is all about making sure your family will have the kind of life you always hoped they’d have, even if you’re not around to witness it,” said Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC, president and CEO of the LIFE Foundation.

LIMRA International reported that 68 million American adults have no life insurance and among those with coverage, most have far less than experts recommend.

According to a 2008 LIMRA study:

• 15 percent of husbands and 28 percent of wives have no life insurance.
• 6 million households (10 percent of families with children under 18) have no life insurance or term life insurance protection.
• The percentage of families with dependent children that admit they’ll have immediate trouble with everyday living expenses is 22 percent.

If you are not sure you have adequate coverage, please contact an Insurance Advisor at Wholesale Insurance who can help you safeguard your family’s financial future.

ORLANDO, FL — (MARKET WIRE) — 07/22/10 — Today the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) both released large studies of the Life Settlement Industry, on which they had each worked for the last year, recognizing the growth of the life settlement market and, importantly, that life settlements are a valuable alternative to the lapse or surrender of a life insurance policy for American consumers.

The 120-page GAO report released today documents the emergence of the life settlement market, and the concomitant growth of regulation of the market. Most importantly, the GAO report provides conclusive evidence that American consumers benefit from the existence of a regulated life settlement market, documenting that life insurance policyowners received an average of 7 times more in a life settlement than if they had surrendered their policies back to the insurance company.

While citing that there are “inconsistencies” in state regulation, the report concludes that most states do regulate life settlements and that there are very few reports of consumer complaints in the life settlement market. LISA and its members have been champions of state regulation of life settlements and are proud that the laws on the books in 40 states today provide more protections and transparency for consumers than any other insurance transaction in the United States today.

The SEC report, also issued today almost a year after forming its internal Life Settlements Task Force, examined the history and growth of the life settlement market, with a particular emphasis on investor protection in the market. The SEC concludes the 90-page report with five recommendations for future action by the agency. LISA will be reviewing these recommendations and providing further comment as necessary. “The GAO and SEC reports document that life settlements are here to stay, that they provide tremendous value to consumers and that the rapid development of state regulation of the market, while not always uniform, has provided strong consumer protection in life settlement transactions,” said Doug Head, Executive Director of LISA. “More Americans should learn that before they surrender their policy back to the insurance company that they can sell it in a well-regulated market and receive an average of 700 percent more than the cash surrender value,” continued Head.

Forty states today have life settlement laws to protect consumers representing 86% of the nation’s consumers with legislation currently pending in several other states, most notably Massachusetts and Michigan. Most of these laws are based on model life settlement law adopted by the National Conference of Insurance Legislators in 2007 which ensures strong consumer protections in life settlement transactions. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, since 2007, consistent with the adoption of new life settlement laws, there have been fewer than 20 reported complaints involving life settlement transactions from consumers. By comparison, the NAIC reported that state regulators had received approximately 80,000 consumer complaints involving life insurance and annuities. “LISA looks forward to continuing to work with all interested public policy makers to address the issues affecting our relatively small industry which has brought so much value to consumers in the face of great hostility from some historically large financial services players,” said Head.

DETROIT — Insurance companies can use a person’s credit report to determine rates, the Michigan Supreme Court said Thursday in declaring that state regulators exceeded their authority when they banned the practice as discriminatory.

The decision ends a legal battle between insurance companies and Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration that has reached three courts since 2005.

The industry says people with strong credit reports make fewer claims and deserve lower rates than people with weak credit reports. The Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling, said Michigan law allows companies to offer people with good credit lower rates.

“It is difficult to see how offering discounts to some insureds on the basis of good insurance scores is inconsistent with the (law’s) general purpose of availability and affordability of insurance for all consumers,” Justice Maura Corrigan wrote in the majority opinion.

Corrigan and fellow conservatives Stephen Markman and Robert Young Jr. were joined by Justice Elizabeth Weaver.

Insurance companies have been allowed to use credit reports for home and car rates while the dispute was tied up in the courts.

“This decision is a win for Michigan policy holders,” said Peter Kuhnmuench, director of the Insurance Institute of Michigan, which represents 39 companies. “Insurance carriers will continue to be able to offer discounts to policy holders who are less likely to have a claim.”

Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer signaled he would make the case a campaign issue for Young, a Republican who is seeking re-election. He didn’t, however, criticize Weaver by name. She has run as a Republican in the past but is seeking another term as an independent.

“Voters are tired of being put on the back burner so insurance companies can make a heftier profit,” Brewer said.

Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly and justices Diane Hathaway and Michael Cavanagh said they would have upheld the actions of Michigan insurance regulators.

“I would … hold that the uncertainty surrounding the accuracy of credit reports is evidence per se that a classification system based on those reports is unreasonable,” Kelly wrote.

-By ED WHITE (AP) – Jul 8, 2010 The Associated Press

NEW YORK, May 26 /PRNewswire/ — GfK Financial Services, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, today announced highlights from a new OmniWeb survey that reveals almost half of Americans (42%) prefer the government take a less significant role in the financial services industry. Comparatively, only 26% of respondents say they’d like to see more government involvement.

Political Lines Blurring… Blue States Align with Red

Surprisingly, “blue states” are in agreement with their Republican counterparts when it comes to government involvement in the financial services industry. In fact, more respondents on the predominately Democratic West coast report they would prefer to see a lighter federal hand in Wall Street affairs (46%) than their “red state” neighbors in the Midwest (44%) and the South (41%). Additionally, over one third (36%) of Americans who live in the Northeast also prefer less government involvement. To compare, 28% of respondents in the Northeast say they’d actually like to see more of a federal presence as well as 27% in the West, 25% in the Midwest and 23% in the South.

Across the Demographics… Americans Want Less

More men (46%) than women (39%) say they prefer less government involvement in the financial services industry. Additionally, while respondents across all age groups agreed they’d like to see less of Uncle Sam on Wall Street, Americans 65 and older were more likely to prefer less government involvement (54%) than younger generations (34% among 18-to 24-year-olds). Results also show that households with the highest reported annual income ($75,000 plus) actually prefer more government involvement (38%) than any other income segment (25% among households that make less than $20,000 annually).

“With the slow economic recovery, the sheen is off the federal stimulus packages,” explains Douglas Cottings, Managing Director of GfK Financial Services. “Americans are growing weary and earning back their trust in Wall Street and Washington is still a major sticking point. To help turn the tide, it’s critical for financial companies to refocus their time and resources on first repairing the damage to their reputation in order to win back consumer confidence.”

Additional survey findings will be released at the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA) Marketing and Research Conference in Orlando, Florida as part of the June 4th presentation, “Winners and Losers: Recession Impact on Perceptions of Companies.”

About GfK Financial Services

A division of GfK Custom Research North America, GfK Financial Services is a leading provider of market research to the global financial services industry. With focused expertise in traditional and non-traditional financial service industries, clients of GfK Financial Services include retail and commercial banks, credit card companies, investment banks, brokerage and securities firms, property and casualty insurers, life and health insurers, asset managers, consumer finance companies and other diversified financial institutions, as well as their trade and professional associations. By qualifying and quantifying what the stakeholders of their clients need and value, GfK Financial Services partners with financial institutions to rethink assumptions and identify strategies for business improvement.

About GfK Custom Research North America

Headquartered in New York, GfK Custom Research North America is part of the GfK Group. The GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailers, services companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The no. 4 market research organization worldwide operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 10,000 staff. In 2009, the GfK Group’s sales amounted to EUR 1.16 billion. For more information, visit www.gfkamerica.com. Follow us at www.gfkinsights4u.com or on Twitter @gfkamerica.

Source: GfK Financial Services

Less than one-third of U.S. women have life insurance coverage, yet they comprise over 45% of the workforce in America, according to a press release from Insurance.com. Of the women who do have life insurance coverage, two-thirds feel that their insurance coverage is adequate. The result: only 10% of working women have adequate life insurance coverage. These are staggering numbers in respect to the financial role women place in today’s households.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, or your gender. If you have a home, kids or a spouse who depends on you financially, you should have term life insurance,” says Rob Klapper, insurance.com CEO.

Below are some questions Insurance.com suggests you ask yourself when considering your life insurance needs.

Do You Need Term Life Insurance?

YES: If your family relies on your income – in full or in part. Should the unexpected happen, ensure that your family’s lifestyle isn’t strained or compromised by the loss of that income.

YES: If you are a stay-at-home parent. It may sound counterintuitive, but you contribute financially to the family. Childcare for a single, working parent could bust the budget for a surviving spouse.

YES: If you own a home. No spouse, no kids? You may still want to think about term life. Should something happen, the policy would help pay your mortgage and other debts, leaving your family free to concentrate on more important things.

If you are considering purchasing life insurance, you can shop and compare real term life insurance rates online: www.wholesaleinsurance.net.