A. For policies and contracts issued prior to the operative date of the valuation manual:

(1) the superintendent shall annually value, or cause to be valued, the reserve liabilities (hereinafter called reserves) for all outstanding life insurance policies and annuity and pure endowment contracts of every life insurer authorized to do business in New Mexico and that are issued on or after the operative date of Section 59A-20-31 NMSA 1978, except that, for an alien insurer, the value is limited to the alien insurer's United States business. In calculating such reserves the superintendent may use group methods and approximate averages for fractions of a year or otherwise. In lieu of valuation of reserves herein required of a foreign or alien insurer, the superintendent may accept any valuation made, or caused to be made, by the insurance supervisory official of any state or other jurisdiction when such valuation complies with the minimum standard provided by the Standard Valuation Law;

(2) the provisions of Sections 59A-8A-6 and 59A-8A-7 NMSA 1978 apply, as appropriate, to a policy or contract that is subject to the provisions of the Standard Valuation Law and that is issued on or after the operative date of Section 59A-20-31 NMSA 1978 but prior to the operative date of the valuation manual. The provisions of Sections 59A-8A-8 and 59A-8A-9 NMSA 1978 do not apply to a policy or contract that is subject to the provisions of the Standard Valuation Law and that is issued on or after the operative date of Section 59A-20-31 NMSA 1978 but prior to the operative date of the valuation manual; and

(3) the minimum standard for the valuation of a policy or contract that is issued prior to the operative date of Section 59A-20-31 NMSA 1978 is the minimum standard provided in the laws in effect immediately prior to that date.

B. For a policy or contract that is issued on or after the operative date of the valuation manual:

(1) the superintendent shall annually value, or cause to be valued, the reserve liabilities, hereinafter called reserves, of all outstanding life insurance, annuity and pure endowment, accident and health and deposit-type contracts of a life insurer authorized to do business in New Mexico that are issued on or after the operative date of the valuation manual. In the case of a foreign or alien insurer, the superintendent may, in the alternative, accept a valuation made, or caused to be made, by the insurance supervisory official of a state or other jurisdiction if that valuation complies with the minimum standard provided in the Standard Valuation Law; and

(2) the provisions of Sections 59A-8A-8 and 59A-8A-9 NMSA 1978 apply to all policies and contracts issued on or after the operative date of the valuation manual.

C. In no event shall the aggregate reserves for all policies, contracts and benefits issued prior to the operative date of the valuation manual be less than the aggregate reserves determined by the qualified actuary to be necessary to render the opinion required by Section 59A-8A-4 NMSA 1978.

History: Laws 1984, ch. 127, § 123; 1993, ch. 320, § 21; § 59A-8-6 recompiled and amended as § 59A-8A-3 by Laws 2014, ch. 59, § 17.

Recompilations. — Laws 2014, ch. 59, § 17 recompiled and amended former 59A-8-6 NMSA 1978 as 59A-8A-3 NMSA 1978.

The 2014 amendment, effective January 1, 2017, provided for the valuation of reserves pursuant to the valuation manual; in the section heading, deleted "Annual" and added "Reserve", and after "valuation", deleted "reserves"; in Subsection A, added the introductory sentence; in Subsection A, Paragraph (1), in the first sentence, after "authorized to do business in", deleted language which provided that for an alien insurer, the valuation shall be limited to its United States business and which required the superintendent to certify the amount of reserves, and added "New Mexico and that are issued on or after the operative date of Section 59A-20-31 NMSA 1978, except that, for an alien insurer, the value is limited to the alien insurer's United States business", in the third sentence, after "the minimum standard provided", deleted language which authorized the superintendent to accept a valuation by another state if the other state accepted the certificate of valuation of the superintendent in which the aggregate reserves would be as large as if they had been computed as provided by the law of the other state, and added "by the Standard Valuation Law"; in Subsection A, added Paragraphs (2) and (3); added Subsection B; in Subsection C, after "contracts and benefits", added "issued prior to the operative date of the valuation manual", and after "Section", changed "59A-8-7" to "59A-8A-4"; deleted former Subsection C, which authorized the insurer to increase the standards of mortality in particular cases; and deleted former Subsection D, which required insurers to maintain an active life reserve for health insurance policies.

Compiler's notes. — Pursuant to Laws 2014, ch. 59, § 55, the effective date of Laws 2014, ch. 59, §§ 15 through 27 was January 1, 2017. On June 30, 2016, the superintendent of insurance certified to the New Mexico compilation commission and the director of the legislative council service that:

(1) the most recent version of the manual of valuation instructions adopted by the national association of insurance commissioners has been adopted by the national association of insurance commissioners by an affirmative vote of at least forty-two members or three-fourths of the members voting, whichever is greater;

(2) the Standard Valuation Law of the national association of insurance commissioners, as amended in 2009, or legislation including substantially similar terms and provisions, has been enacted by states that collectively represent more than seventy-five percent of written direct premiums, as reported in the life, accident and health annual statements, the health annual statements and the fraternal annual statements submitted for 2008; and

(3) the Standard Valuation Law of the national association of insurance commissioners, as amended in 2009, or legislation including substantially similar terms and provisions, has been enacted by at least forty-two of the following fifty-five jurisdictions:

(a) the fifty states of the United States;

(b) American Samoa;

(c) the Virgin Islands of the United States;

(d) the District of Columbia;

(e) Guam; and

(f) Puerto Rico.

Severability. — Laws 2014, ch. 59, § 54 provided that if any part or application of the provisions of Laws 2014, ch. 59 is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "reserves" for "life policies" in the section heading, and added Subsections D and E.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 43 Am. Jur. 2d Insurance §§ 56, 62.

44 C.J.S. Insurance §§ 15 et seq., 112.