(a) An insurance producer shall not solicit the sale of an annuity product unless the insurance producer has adequate knowledge of the product to recommend the annuity and the insurance producer is in compliance with the insurer’s standards for product training. An insurance producer may rely on insurer-provided product-specific training standards and materials to comply with this subdivision.

(b) (1) An insurance producer who is otherwise entitled to engage in the sale of annuity products shall complete a one-time eight credit-hour annuity training course approved by the commissioner and provided by a commissioner-approved education provider, prior to commencing the transaction of annuities, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1749.8.

(2) In addition to the requirement set forth in paragraph (1), every producer who engages in this state in the sale of annuity products shall satisfactorily complete four continuing education credits prior to license renewal every two years, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1749.8.

(3) The training required under this subdivision shall include information on all of the following topics:

(A) The types of annuities and various classifications of annuities.

(B) Identification of the parties to an annuity.

(C) How fixed, variable, and indexed annuity contract provisions affect consumers.

(D) The application of income taxation of qualified and nonqualified annuities.

(E) The primary uses of annuities.

(F) Prohibited sales practices, the recognition of indicators that a prospective insured may lack the short-term memory or judgment to knowingly purchase an insurance product, and fraudulent and unfair trade practices, as well as replacement and disclosure requirements for sales of annuities, all as provided under California law, including, but not limited to, this article.

(4) Providers of courses intended to comply with this section shall cover all topics listed in the prescribed outline and shall not present any marketing information or provide training on sales techniques or provide specific information about a particular insurer’s products. Additional topics may be offered in conjunction with and in addition to the required outline.

(5) A provider of an annuity training course intended to comply with this section shall register as a CE provider in this state and comply with the rules and guidelines applicable to insurance producer continuing education courses as set forth in Section 1749.8, in subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 1749.1, and in Sections 2188, 2188.1, 2188.2, 2188.3, 2188.4, 2188.6, 2188.7, 2188.8, 2188.50, and 2188.9 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations.

(6) Annuity training courses may be conducted and completed by classroom or self-study methods in accordance with Sections 2188.2 and 2188.3 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations.

(7) Providers of annuity training shall comply with the reporting requirements and shall issue certificates of completion in accordance with Section 2188.8 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations.

(8) An insurer shall verify that an insurance producer has completed the annuity training required under this section before allowing the producer to sell an annuity product for that insurer. An insurer may satisfy its responsibility under this paragraph by obtaining certificates of completion of the training course or obtaining reports provided by commissioner-sponsored database systems or vendors or from a reasonably reliable commercial database vendor that has a reporting arrangement with approved insurance education providers.

(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 295, Sec. 2. (AB 689) Effective January 1, 2012.)