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Iowa has proposed a best-interest standard requiring financial professionals to act in the best interest of clients.
The plan, released by the Iowa Insurance Division, is based on the model regulation approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners earlier this year and requires annuity agents and broker-dealers and their reps to act in the best interest of their customers.
The Iowa Insurance Division is a member of the NAIC and North American Securities Administrators Association.
The Insurance Retirement Institute (IRI) said Tuesday that while it supports the Iowa regulation, the annuity group is concerned about "potential inconsistencies" between the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation Best Interest and Iowa's proposed best interest standard for securities professionals.
Jason Berkowitz, IRI chief legal and regulatory affairs officer, said Iowa's proposal aims to align with Reg BI, "but IRI and our members are concerned about a few subtle but important distinctions between the two."
George Michael Gerstein, partner at Stradley Ronon in Washington, agreed that the Iowa proposal "seeks to proximately harmonize with Regulation Best Interest."
