A. Any insurer that is licensed to write life insurance or annuities in the Commonwealth may deliver, or issue for delivery, funding agreements in the Commonwealth.

B. As used in this section “funding agreement” is inclusive but not limited to guaranteed investment contracts, guaranteed interest contracts, unallocated group contracts, investment contracts, or other similar instrument by whatever name, and means an agreement that authorizes the insurer to accept funds and that provides for an accumulation of funds for the purpose of making one or more payments in fixed or variable amounts, or in both, that are not based on mortality or morbidity contingencies.

C. Funding agreements may be issued to persons to fund (i) benefits under any employee benefit plan as defined in the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. § 1002 (3)) maintained in the United States or a foreign country; (ii) the activities of any organization exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code or any similar organization in any foreign country; (iii) any program of the government of the United States, the government of any state, foreign country, or political subdivision thereof; (iv) any agreement providing for one or more payments in satisfaction of a claim; (v) any program of any individual or entity that has assets in excess of $25,000,000; or (vi) any program of any individual or entity that is registered with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

D. Amounts paid to the insurer and proceeds applied under optional modes of settlement under a funding agreement may be allocated by the insurer to its general account and to one or more separate accounts. The assets of any such separate account shall not be chargeable with liabilities arising out of any other business that the insurer conducts. Where separate accounts are not chargeable with liabilities arising out of any other business of the insurer, a risk charge shall be paid on not less than a quarterly basis from the respective separate account to the general account to provide appropriate compensation and to fund an appropriate reserve, if any, for the risks to the general account.

E. No licensed insurer shall make an agreement in the Commonwealth providing for the allocation of funding agreement amounts to a separate account until such insurer has filed with the Commission a statement as to its methods of operation of such separate account and the Commission has approved such statement. Subject to the approval of the Commission, any such statement may apply to one or more groups of separate accounts classified by investment policy, number or kinds of separate account participants, methods of distribution of such agreements or otherwise. In determining whether or not to approve any such statement, the Commission shall consider, among other things, the history, reputation and financial stability of the insurer and the character, experience, responsibility, competence, and general fitness of the officers and directors of the insurer. An amendment of any such statement that changes the investment policy of a separate account shall be treated as an original filing.

F. A funding agreement delivered or issued for delivery in the Commonwealth shall not qualify as or be considered to be life insurance, an annuity, or any other form of insurance defined and classified in Article 2 (§ 38.2-101 et seq.) of Chapter 1 of this title, but shall constitute transacting an insurance business in the Commonwealth.

G. For any funding agreement assets held in the insurer’s general account, or for any other obligations due under the funding agreement from the insurer’s general account, the funding agreement shall be treated as an insurance contract, and the holder of the funding agreement shall be entitled to the same priority of distribution as other policyholders for the purposes of clause (ii) of subdivision B 1 of § 38.2-1509.

H. Any domestic insurer that has established separate accounts in connection with funding agreements and has allocated funds to such separate accounts shall file with the Commission, in addition to the annual statement required by § 38.2-1300, any other periodic or special reports the Commission prescribes.

I. An insurer that has established a separate account pursuant to this section shall not transfer any assets to such separate account from any of its other accounts, including its general account, unless the transfer to such separate account is authorized by the Commission.

2004, c. 254; 2008, c. 216.