For Immediate Release:
July 27, 2022
Why Insurance Business Transfers?
By Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready
Innovation moves our state forward. At the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID), we’re committed to creating an environment that embraces innovative thinking. One of the innovative tools we’ve recently brought to Oklahoma is the Insurance Business Transfer (IBT). Oklahoma’s IBT law became effective in November 2018 and Oklahoma became the first U.S. state to embrace IBTs under a structure that closely mimics Part VII Transfers that have taken place in the U.K. for 20 years. In October 2020, Oklahoma became the first state in the U.S. to have an IBT completed and approved by the courts. Since then, we completed the second IBT in August 2021 and are working on our third.
An IBT is a process that allows for a transfer of a block of insurance business from one existing insurance company to another. Oklahoma’s IBT statute includes life, health, property and casualty liabilities, and is open to both runoff and active books of business. This cutting-edge mechanism focuses on the protection of consumers while allowing insurance companies to strategically deploy assets to their areas of focus. IBTs create considerable flexibility and financial security for companies, help eliminate uncertainty, reduce administrative expenses and simplify regulation. More importantly, an IBT can connect policyholders with a company that better understands their policy and coverage.
I support mechanisms like IBTs to bring an economic boost to our state, security to consumers and reliability and finality to the insurance industry. As Oklahoma continues to be the leader of IBTs, we’re pleased to host the 2022 Captive & IBT Conference in Oklahoma City in August. I believe this event will bring new opportunities to our state and propel our innovative economy forward. At the Captive & IBT conference, I will be speaking as a panelist in the “Why IBT?” session with various leading experts. Join our discussion and learn about the benefits of IBTs, key trends in the runoff transaction market and how OID can help you with this process.
It’s the first in-person conference we are hosting since the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m excited to showcase Oklahoma’s endless possibilities to risk managers, business owners, regulators, financial executives and insurance professionals. Registration is required to attend the event and limited seats are available. For more information about the event, visit www.oid.ok.gov/CIBTC/ and follow OID on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
If you have questions about other insurance issues, please contact the Oklahoma Insurance Department at 1-800-522-0071 or visit our website at www.oid.ok.gov.