(A) This section shall be known as the standard nonforfeiture law for individual deferred annuities.

(B) This section does not apply to any reinsurance, group annuity purchased under a retirement plan or plan of deferred compensation established or maintained by an employer, including a partnership or sole proprietorship, or by an employee organization, or by both, other than a plan providing individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities under section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C.A. 408, as amended, premium deposit fund, variable annuity, investment annuity, immediate annuity, any deferred annuity contract after annuity payments have commenced, or reversionary annuity, nor to any contract which is delivered outside this state through an agent or other representative of the company issuing the contract.

(C) No contract of annuity, except as stated in division (B) of this section, shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state unless the contract contains in substance the following provisions, or corresponding provisions that in the opinion of the superintendent of insurance are at least as favorable to the contract owners, relative to the cessation of payment of consideration under the contract:

(1) That upon cessation of payment of considerations under a contract, or upon the written request of the contract owner, the company shall grant a paid-up annuity benefit on a plan stipulated in the contract of such value as is specified in divisions (E), (F), (G), (H), and (J) of this section;

(2) If a contract provides for a lump sum settlement at maturity, or at any other time, that upon surrender of the contract at or prior to the commencement of any annuity payments, the company shall pay in lieu of any paid-up annuity benefit a cash surrender benefit of such amount as is specified in divisions (E), (F), (H), and (J) of this section. The company may reserve the right to defer the payment of such cash surrender benefit for a period not to exceed six months after demand therefor with surrender of the contract. The deferral is contingent upon the company's conveyance of a written request for the deferral to the superintendent and the company's receipt of written approval from the superintendent for the deferral. The request shall address the necessity and equitability to all contract owners of the deferral;

(3) A statement of the mortality table, if any, and interest rates used in calculating any minimum paid-up annuity, cash surrender, or death benefits that are guaranteed under the contract, together with sufficient information to determine the amounts of such benefits;

(4) A statement that any paid-up annuity, cash surrender, or death benefits that may be available under the contract are not less than the minimum benefits required by any statute of the state in which the contract is delivered and an explanation of the manner in which such benefits are altered by the existence of any additional amounts credited by the company to the contract, any indebtedness to the company on the contract, or any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract.

Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, any deferred annuity contract may provide that if no considerations have been received under a contract for a period of two full years and the portion of the paid-up annuity benefit at maturity on the plan stipulated in the contract arising from considerations paid prior to such period would be less than twenty dollars monthly, the company may at its option terminate such contract by payment in cash of the then present value of such portion of the paid-up annuity benefit, calculated on the basis of the mortality table, if any, and interest rate specified in the contract for determining the paid-up annuity benefit, and by such payment shall be relieved of any further obligation under such contract.

(D) The minimum values as specified in divisions (E), (F), (G), (H), and (J) of this section of any paid-up annuity, cash surrender, or death benefits available under an annuity contract shall be based upon minimum nonforfeiture amounts as defined in this division.

(1)

(a) The minimum nonforfeiture amount at any time at or prior to the commencement of any annuity payments shall be equal to an accumulation up to such time at rates of interest determined in accordance with division (D)(2) of this section of the net considerations, determined in accordance with division (D)(1)(b) of this section, paid prior to such time, decreased by the sum of:

(i) Any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract, accumulated at rates of interest determined in accordance with division (D)(2) of this section;

(ii) An annual contract charge of fifty dollars, accumulated at rates of interest determined in accordance with division (D)(2) of this section;

(iii) Any premium tax paid by the company for the contract, accumulated at rates of interest determined in accordance with division (D)(2) of this section;

(iv) The amount of any indebtedness to the company on the contract, including interest due and accrued.

(b) The net considerations for a given contract year used to define the minimum nonforfeiture amount shall be an amount equal to eighty-seven and one-half per cent of the gross considerations credited to the contract during that contract year.

(2)

(a) The interest rate used in determining minimum nonforfeiture amounts under divisions (D)(1) to (4) of this section shall be an annual rate of interest determined as the lesser of three per cent per annum or the following, which shall be specified in the contract if the interest rate will be reset:

(i) The five-year constant maturity treasury rate reported by the federal reserve as of a date or an average over a period, rounded to the nearest one-twentieth of one per cent, specified in the contract, no longer than fifteen months prior to the contract issue date or the redetermination date specified in division (D)(2)(b) of this section;

(ii) Reduced by one hundred twenty-five basis points;

(iii) Where the resulting interest rate shall not be less than one per cent.

(b) The interest rate determined under division (D)(2)(a) of this section shall apply for an initial period and may be redetermined for additional periods. The redetermination date, basis and period, if any, shall be stated in the contract. The basis is the date or average over a specified period that produces the value of the five-year constant maturity treasury rate to be used at each redetermination date.

(3) During the period or term that a contract provides substantative participation in an equity-indexed benefit, the contract may provide for an increase in the reduction described in division (D)(2)(a)(ii) of this section by a maximum of one hundred basis points to reflect the value of the equity-indexed benefit. The present value at the contract issue date, and at each redetermination date thereafter, of the additional reduction shall not exceed the market value of the benefit. The superintendent may require a demonstration that the present value of the additional reduction does not exceed the market value of the benefit. If the demonstration is not acceptable to the superintendent, the superintendent may disallow or limit the additional reduction.

(4) The superintendent may adopt rules to implement division (D)(3) of this section and to provide for further adjustments to the calculation of minimum nonforfeiture amounts for contracts that provide substantive participation in an equity-indexed benefit and for other contracts for which the superintendent determines adjustments are justified.

(E) Any paid-up annuity benefit available under a contract shall be such that its present value on the date annuity payments are to commence is at least equal to the minimum nonforfeiture amount on that date. Such present value shall be computed using the mortality table, if any, and the interest rate specified in the contract for determining the minimum paid-up annuity benefits guaranteed in the contract.

(F) For contracts which provide cash surrender benefits, such cash surrender benefits available prior to maturity shall not be less than the present value as of the date of surrender of that portion of the maturity value of the paid-up annuity benefit that would be provided under the contract at maturity arising from considerations paid prior to the time of cash surrender reduced by the amount appropriate to reflect any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract, such present value being calculated on the basis of an interest rate not more than one per cent higher than the interest rate specified in the contract for accumulating the net considerations to determine such maturity value, decreased by the amount of any indebtedness to the company on the contract, including interest due and accrued, and increased by any existing additional amounts credited by the company to the contract. In no event shall any cash surrender benefit be less than the minimum nonforfeiture amount at that time. The death benefit under such contracts shall be at least equal to the cash surrender benefit.

(G) For contracts that do not provide cash surrender benefits, the present value of any paid-up annuity benefit available as a nonforfeiture option at any time prior to maturity shall not be less than the present value of that portion of the maturity value of the paid-up annuity benefit provided under the contract arising from considerations paid prior to the time the contract is surrendered in exchange for, or changed to, a deferred paid-up annuity, such present value being calculated for the period prior to the maturity date on the basis of the interest rate specified in the contract for accumulating the net considerations to determine such maturity value, and increased by any existing additional amounts credited by the company to the contract. For contracts that do not provide any death benefits prior to the commencement of any annuity payments, such present values shall be calculated on the basis of such interest rate and the mortality table specified in the contract for determining the maturity value of the paid-up annuity benefit. However, in no event shall the present value of a paid-up annuity benefit be less than the minimum nonforfeiture amount at that time.

(H) For the purpose of determining the benefits calculated under divisions (F) and (G) of this section, in the case of annuity contracts under which an election may be made to have annuity payments commence at optional maturity dates, the maturity date shall be deemed to be the latest date for which election shall be permitted by the contract, but shall not be deemed to be later than the anniversary of the contract next following the annuitant's seventieth birthday or the tenth anniversary of the contract, whichever is later.

(I) Any contract that does not provide cash surrender benefits or does not provide death benefits at least equal to the minimum nonforfeiture amount prior to the commencement of any annuity payments shall include a statement in a prominent place in the contract that such benefits are not provided.

(J) Any paid-up annuity, cash surrender, or death benefits available at any time, other than on the contract anniversary under any contract with fixed scheduled considerations, shall be calculated with allowance for the lapse of time and the payment of any scheduled considerations beyond the beginning of the contract year in which cessation of payment of considerations under the contract occurs.

(K) For any contract that provides, within the same contract by rider or supplemental contract provision, both annuity benefits and life insurance benefits that are in excess of the greater of cash surrender benefits or a return of the gross considerations with interest, the minimum nonforfeiture benefit shall be equal to the sum of the minimum nonforfeiture benefits for the annuity portion and the minimum nonforfeiture benefits, if any, for the life insurance portion computed as if each portion were a separate contract. Notwithstanding the provisions of divisions (E), (F), (G), (H), and (J) of this section, additional benefits payable:

(1) In the event of total and permanent disability;

(2) As reversionary annuity or deferred reversionary annuity benefits; or

(3) As other policy benefits additional to life insurance, endowment and annuity benefits, and considerations for all such additional benefits shall be disregarded in ascertaining the minimum nonforfeiture amounts, paid-up annuity, cash surrender, and death benefits that may be required by this section.

The inclusion of such additional benefits shall not be required in any paid-up benefits, unless such additional benefits separately would require minimum nonforfeiture amounts, paid-up annuity, cash surrender, and death benefits.

(L) The superintendent may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section.

Effective Date: 08-06-2004; 09-13-2004; 09-13-2006 .