Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of Thrift Supervision
Interagency Statement on the Purchase and Risk Management of Life Insurance
Legal Authority
National banks may purchase and hold certain types of life insurance under 12 USC 24 (Seventh), which provides that national banks may exercise "all such incidental powers as shall be necessary to carry on the business of banking." Federal savings associations also may purchase and hold certain types of life insurance incidental to the express powers granted under the Home Owners' Loan Act. The OCC and OTS have delineated the scope of these authorities through various interpretations addressing the permissible use of life insurance by national banks and federal savings associations.
Under these authorities, national banks and federal savings associations may purchase life insurance in connection with employee compensation and benefit plans, key person insurance, insurance to recover the cost of providing pre- and post-retirement employee benefits, insurance on borrowers, and insurance taken as security for loans. The OCC and OTS may approve other uses on a case-by-case basis.
National banks and federal savings associations may not purchase life insurance:
These restrictions apply even if a national bank or a federal savings association is a Subchapter S corporation for federal income tax purposes.
National banks and federal savings associations may not hold life insurance in excess of their risk of loss or cost to be recovered. For example, once an individual no longer qualifies as a key person because of retirement, resignation, discharge, change of responsibilities, or for any other reason, the risk of loss has been eliminated. Therefore, national banks and federal savings associations may be required to surrender or otherwise dispose of key person life insurance held on an individual who is no longer a key person. Typically, term or declining term insurance is the most appropriate form of life insurance for key person protection.
National banks and federal savings associations may hold equity-linked variable life insurance policies (that is, insurance policies with a return tied to the performance of a portfolio of equity securities held in a separate account1 of the insurance company) only for the purpose of economically hedging their equity-linked obligations under employee benefit plans. As discussed more fully in the section on "Price Risk," for equity-linked variable life insurance holdings to be permissible, the national bank or federal savings association must demonstrate that:
If a national bank or federal savings association does not meet these requirements, the equity-linked variable life insurance holdings are not permissible. The use of equity-linked variable life insurance holdings as a long-term hedge against general benefit costs is not permissible because the life insurance is not hedging a specific equity-linked liability and does not meet the "highly correlated" requirement.
As a general matter, the ability of state-chartered banks to purchase insurance (including equity-linked variable life insurance) is governed by state law. In some instances, state laws permit state-chartered banks to engage in activities (including making investments) that go beyond the authority of a national bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (section 24) generally requires insured state-chartered banks to obtain the FDIC's consent before engaging as principal in activities (including making investments) that are not permissible for a national bank. Similarly, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (section 28) generally requires a state-chartered savings association to obtain the FDIC's consent prior to engaging as principal in activities (including making investments) that are not permissible for a federal savings association. While insured state-chartered banks and state savings associations may seek the FDIC's consent to make purchases of life insurance that would not be within the authority of a national bank or federal savings association, such banks and savings associations should be aware that the FDIC will not grant permission to make life insurance purchases if the FDIC determines that doing so would present a significant risk to the deposit insurance fund or that engaging in such purchases is inconsistent with the purposes of federal deposit insurance.
1 A separate account is a design feature that is generally available to purchasers of whole life or universal life whereby the policyholder’s cash surrender value is supported by assets segregated from the general assets of the carrier. Under such an arrangement, the policyholder neither owns the underlying separate account nor controls investment decisions (e.g., timing of investments or credit selection) in the underlying separate account that is created by the insurance carrier on its behalf. Nevertheless, the policyholder assumes all investment and price risk.