Ann Young Black

Ann Black counsels financial services clients on a broad range of insurance, securities, and business issues. She regularly advises clients developing new and innovative life and annuity products and on the insurance and securities issues impacting those products. Ann also advises clients on the laws and regulations regarding the sale, distribution, issuance, administration and operation of, and benefit payment practices related to, these products. Clients also seek Ann's guidance on insurtech initiatives, including the use of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and tech-driven customer engagement ventures.

Many of Ann's clients develop innovative life and annuity contracts and have sought her advice on state insurance law and IIPRC requirements or limitations on the products’ innovative terms and features. She regularly reviews new product specifications and works with product actuaries on the new product’s pricing or risk mitigation features. She has advised on the status of insurance products as securities, as well as on the development or use of hedge funds within insurance products.

Ann counsels financial services clients on the federal and state securities and insurance regulations governing sales, marketing, and distribution of various insurance products. More recently, she has been guiding financial services clients on the impact of proposed and adopted federal and state regulation with respect to suitability, best interest, fiduciary duty, and generally the duty of care, with respect to the distribution of variable and fixed annuity products. To the extent that the distribution arrangements require new business relationships, she advises clients on the contractual issues.

She also provides litigation and regulatory risk counseling on federal and state securities issues and state insurance issues, as well as assisting on state insurance market conduct exams, regulatory investigations, and regulatory proceedings. This includes advising clients on litigation and regulatory risk relating to, and exams into, insurer practices with respect to suitability, replacements, marketing materials, underwriting, claims practices, unclaimed property, and retained asset accounts.

Ann also advises a wide variety of other clients on: (i) legal structure, formation, and contractual issues; and (ii) securities, insurance, and derivatives regulatory matters in a variety of transactions.

Ann is the co-chair of the Life, Annuity, and Retirement Solutions Industry Group.

• Designed and advised on the status of fixed declared rate annuities with market value adjustments and fixed index annuities under Section 3(a)(8) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Harkin Amendment.
• Designed and drafted innovative life and annuity contracts, including fixed index products with unique index crediting options and guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits, structured index products, contingent deferred annuities or synthetic annuities to be sold with managed accounts, and bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance contracts that include stable value features. This also includes advising on various state and insurance issues, including insurable interest, classification as life insurance, and filing issues.
• Developed suitability programs and procedures to comply with the NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation and state variations.
• Assessed various distribution arrangements' compliance with the Department of Labor's amendment to the definition of fiduciary and related exemptions.
• Performed risk analysis of products, sales materials, and suitability and replacements programs based on current actions by state attorneys general and insurance regulatory authorities.
• Advised on and respond to attorney general and state insurance regulatory authority investigations and market conduct examinations, including subsequent litigation proceedings.
• Advised on a variety of insurance regulatory matters, including: (i) point of sale requirements, including suitability analysis, replacement requirements, and disclosures; (ii) advertising and marketing of life and annuity products, including contract summaries, life and annuity illustrations, television advertisements, and global branding campaigns; (iii) product design, including required provisions for individual and group life and annuity products and nonforfeiture issues; (iv) insurable interest; (v) eligible groups and group coverage issues; (vi) producer, third-party administrator and managing general agent licensing, audit and oversight and other related regulatory requirements; and (vii) discrimination, rebating, and other unfair trade practice issues.
• Negotiated and draft various insurance service and insurance administrative contracts.

• The Best Lawyers in America, Insurance Law (2023–2024)
• Top Author, Insurance, JD Supra Readers' Choice Awards (2019–2020, 2023–2024)
• "Stand-Out Lawyers," Thomson Reuters (2022–2024)

• Association of Life Insurance Counsel
  • Chair, Securities Committee (2018–2019); Vice Chair (2017–2018)
• American Bar Association
• National Association of Fixed Annuities
  • Former Member of the Board and Secretary

• "Innovations in Life Insurance and State Insurance Regulatory Initiatives," ALI CLE Conference on Life Insurance Products, Washington, D.C. (November 2, 2023)
• Integrity Marketing Group LLC Compliance Summit (2023)
• "Innovations in Insurance Product Distribution and State Insurance Regulatory Initiatives," ALI CLE Conference on Life Insurance Products, Washington, D.C. (November 3–4, 2022)
• "Innovation in Insurance," Client Presentation (October 6, 2022)
• "Advertising Training Seminar," Client Presentation (September 22, 2022)
• "Training Seminar on Securities, Insurance, and Tax," Client Presentation (June 14, 15, 21 and 23, 2022)
• "State Insurance Regulation Impact on Innovation," ALI CLE Conference on Life Insurance Products, Washington, D.C. (November 4–5, 2021)
• "State Insurance Regulatory Developments," Carlton Fields (June 23, 2020)
• "Fixed and Fixed Indexed Annuities and Life Insurance Products," ALI CLE Conference on Life Insurance Products, Washington, D.C. (November 6–8, 2019)
• “Key Regulatory & Risk Management Issues to Watch in the Retirement Product Market,” Insured Retirement Institute, Washington, D.C. (February 6, 2019)
• "NAIC 'A' Committee Initiatives and the Latest Innovations in the Design, Distribution, and Administration of Fixed and Fixed Indexed Annuities and Life Insurance Products," ALI CLE 36th Annual Advanced Conference on Life Insurance Company Products, Washington, D.C. (November 8, 2018)
• Pacific Life 2018 Educational Symposium (September 24–27, 2018)
• “Securities Investigation and Enforcement Actions and Insurance Product Sales to Investment Advisor Clients,” 2018 ALIC Annual Meeting, Half Moon Bay, CA (May 7, 2018)
• "Navigating the Insurer’s Duties and Bad Faith Considerations" and "Representations and Warranty Insurance – Lessons Learned," Client Forum, New York, NY (February 28, 2018)
• "Regulatory Trends in Financial Services," Carlton Fields In-House Counsel Forum, Orlando, FL (March 2017)
• "Big Data – Uses, Insurer Obligations, and Ethical Issues for In-House Counsel," New York, NY (February 8, 2017)
• "Innovative Fixed Rate and Indexed Annuity and Life Insurance Product Designs and Regulatory Developments," ALI CLE Life Insurance Company Products 2016, Washington, D.C. (November 3, 2016)
•  "DOL Fiduciary Rule Implementation Workshop," IRI Government, Legal & Regulatory Conference 2016, Washington, D.C. (June 8, 2016)
• "Big Data – Practical Problems, Proposed Solutions, and Ethical Considerations," Client Focus Forum, Denver, CO (October 19, 2015)
• "Index Annuity and Life Product Trends and Issues," ALI CLE Conference on Life Insurance Company Products (November 2013)
• "Advanced Forum on Key Litigation and Regulatory Issues Impacting the Financial Services Industry" – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Impact on Insurers; NAIC Review of Separate Account Funded Products; NAIC Review of Captives and Reserve Requirements for UL Policies with Secondary Guarantees and for Term Life Policies; NAIC ERISA Retirement Income Working Group (December 12, 2012)
• "Advanced Forum on Key Litigation and Regulatory Issues Impacting the Financial Services Industry" – State Securities Departments; Suitability – State and FINRA; Replacements; Tips for Conducting a Mock Regulatory Inspection; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Impact on Insurers; Reinsurance Regulation – Captives and SPVs (October 23, 2012)
• "Advanced Forum on Key Litigation and Regulatory Issues Impacting the Financial Services Industry" – Unclaimed Property; Marketing and Disclosure Issues – Suitability; Annuity Disclosure Model Act and NAIC Disclosures Best Practices; Replacements; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Impact on Insurers; Reinsurance Regulation (September 17, 2012)
• "State Regulation of Annuities and Insurance," ALI-ABA Conference on Life Insurance Company Products (November 2009)
• "Litigation Update," ACLI Compliance & Legal Sections Annual Meeting (July 2008)
• "What Not to Do When Developing Your Sales Programs: Recent Trends in Litigation and Compliance," American Bankers Insurance Association (September 2007)
• "Update on Evolving Litigation Issues Confronting Life Insurers: A Look Over the Shoulder as a Precursor of Things to Come," American Council of Life Insurers Conference (July 2006)
• "Independent Marketing Organizations' Roundtable," Sun Life Financial Distributors Inc. (June 2005)

• Former Certified Public Accountant