Insurer Settles Military Sales Case

"This agreement shows that regulators, both national and state, are united in protecting our military personnel, many of whom are young and financially inexperienced, from deceptive or unfair sales practices," says Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.

American Amicable put out a statement emphasizing that it has taken major steps to improve its compliance programs.

"We are a strong company, and that is because of our employees, our agents and our products," American Amicable President Lanny Peavy says in the statement. "This settlement is in the best interest of our customers, employees and agents, and will allow us to focus on moving forward as we continue to provide service to our policyholders."

American Amicable supplied prospects with literature that described the Horizon Life policy accurately, but it trained agents to describe themselves as "financial advisors" and to convince soldiers that they would reap substantial gains from investing in the policies, SEC officials say.

In most cases, service members who bought the policies gained little or nothing from their investments, officials say.