PIA of New York said it is pleased that the state of New York will join the ranks of states that have enacted some form of the NAIC's model producer licensing act. Each state licensing law needed changes to meet uniformity and reciprocity goals as established in the 1999 federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Gov. George Pataki signed into law S.5729, the producer licensing bill, last week week.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley established a regulatory scheme for the financial services industry and encouraged states open their markets to non-resident insurance producer competition. Meeting the goals of the federal act was seen by critics of state-based insurance regulation as a key test of its effectiveness. PIA of New York had objected to language in early versions of the New York bill, which could have precluded unlicensed employees of brokers from continuing to perform certain functions. Once these details were rectified, the association endorsed the legislation.

What It Means to Agents: Advocates of optional federal charters had been seeking to strengthen their arguments by contending that despite NAIC's success in getting states to reform their licensing procedures, key larger states like New York had yet to act. Passage of the producer licensing bill in New York is a major step toward uniformity.