20-2605. Reserve liabilities for variable life insurance

A. Reserve liabilities for variable life insurance policies shall be established under section 20-510 according to actuarial procedures that recognize the variable nature of the benefits provided and any mortality guarantees.

B. Reserve liabilities for the guaranteed minimum death benefit shall be the reserve amount that is needed to provide for the contingency of death occurring when the guaranteed minimum death benefit exceeds the death benefit that would otherwise be paid in the absence of the guarantee. The insurer shall maintain reserve liabilities in the general account. Reserve liabilities shall not be less than the greater of any of the following minimum reserves:

1. Assuming an immediate one-third depreciation in the current value of the assets in the separate account followed by a net investment return equal to the assumed investment rate, the aggregate total of the term costs on each variable life insurance contract, if any, covering either:

(a) A period of one full year from the valuation date.

(b) If less than the amount under subdivision (a) of this paragraph, the period that is provided for in the guarantee and that is not otherwise provided for by the reserves held in the separate account.

2. The aggregate total of the attained age level reserves on each variable life insurance contract. The attained age level reserve on each variable life insurance contract shall not be less than zero and shall equal the residue of the prior year's attained age level reserve on the contract. Any residue shall be increased or decreased by a payment that is computed on an attained age basis pursuant to subdivision (b) of this paragraph. For the purposes of this paragraph:

(a) The residue of the prior year's attained age level reserve on each variable life insurance contract shall not be less than zero and shall be determined by adding interest at the valuation interest rate to the prior year's reserve, by deducting the tabular claims based on any excess, if any, of the guaranteed minimum death benefit over the death benefit that would be payable in the absence of the guarantee and by dividing the net result by the tabular probability of survival. The excess shall be based on the actual level of death benefits that would have been in effect during the preceding year in the absence of the guarantee and shall take account of the reserve assumptions regarding the distribution of death claim payments over the year.

(b) The payment shall be computed so that the present value of a level payment of that amount each year over the future period for which charges for this risk will be collected under the contract or if no future charges for this risk will be collected under the contract, the payment shall equal (A) minus (B) minus (C). For the purposes of this subdivision:

(i) (A) means the present value of the future guaranteed minimum death benefits.

(ii) (B) means the present value of the future death benefits that would be payable in the absence of the guarantee and that is computed by assuming a net investment return of the separate account that may differ from the assumed investment rate or the valuation interest rate, or both, but that may not exceed the maximum interest rate that is permitted for the valuation of life contracts.

(iii) (C) means any residue as prescribed by subdivision (a) of this paragraph of the prior year's attained age level reserve on the variable life insurance contract.

3. The valuation interest rate and mortality table that are used to compute the guaranteed minimum death benefit and the future death benefit that would be payable in the absence of the guarantee shall conform to permissible standards for the valuation of life insurance contracts. In determining the minimum reserves, the insurer may employ suitable approximations and estimates, including groupings and averages.

C. According to the actuarial procedures appropriate to the benefit, the insurer shall maintain reserve liabilities for all fixed incidental insurance benefits and any guarantees that are associated with variable accidental insurance benefits in the general account and shall maintain reserve liabilities for all variable aspects of the variable incidental insurance benefits in a separate account.