33-2-404. Principle-based valuation. (1) A company domiciled in Montana shall establish reserves using a principle-based valuation that meets the conditions for policies or contracts in this section and as specified in the valuation manual.

(2) The principle-based valuation at a minimum must:

(a) quantify the benefits and guarantees as well as the funding associated with the contracts and their risks at a level of conservatism that reflects conditions that include unfavorable events that have a reasonable probability of occurring during the lifetime of the contracts. The principle-based valuation method must reflect conditions appropriately adverse to quantify the tail risk for policies and contracts with significant tail risk.

(b) incorporate assumptions, risk analysis methods, and financial models and management techniques that are consistent with but not necessarily identical to those used within the company's overall risk assessment process. This process must recognize potential differences in financial reporting structures and any prescribed assumptions or methods.

(c) incorporate assumptions derived:

(i) as prescribed in the valuation manual; or

(ii) if not prescribed in the valuation manual, using:

(A) the company's available experience to the extent the experience is relevant and statistically credible; or

(B) other relevant and statistically credible experience whenever the company's own data is not available, relevant, or statistically credible; and

(d) provide margins for uncertainty, including adverse deviation and estimation error to the extent that the greater the uncertainty, the larger the margin and resulting reserve.

(3) A company using principle-based valuation for one or more policies or contracts subject to this section and as specified in the valuation manual shall:

(a) establish procedures for corporate governance and oversight of the actuarial valuation function consistent with those described in the valuation manual;

(b) provide to the commissioner and its board of directors an annual certification of the effectiveness of the internal controls with respect to the principle-based valuation. These internal controls must be designed to ensure that all material risks inherent in the liabilities and associated assets subject to the principle-based valuation are included in the valuation and are performed in accordance with the valuation manual. The certification must be based on controls in place as of the end of the preceding calendar year.

(c) develop a principle-based valuation report that complies with standards prescribed in the valuation manual. This report must be filed with the commissioner upon the commissioner's request. A report under this subsection (3)(c) is required after the commissioner has adopted rules as provided in 33-2-418.

(4) A principle-based valuation may include a prescribed formulaic reserve component.

History: En. Sec. 13, Ch. 370, L. 2015.