Acts and Regulations

2019, c.36 - An Act to Amend the Insurance Act

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2019, c.36
An Act to Amend the
Insurance Act
Assented to December 20, 2019
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
1The Insurance Act, chapter I-12 of the Revised Statutes, 1973, is amended by adding after section 84 the following: 
Dealing or trading in life insurance policies prohibited
84.1(1)Any person, other than an insurer or its authorized agent, who advertises or holds themselves out as a purchaser of life insurance policies or of benefits under life insurance policies, or who deals or trades in life insurance policies for the purpose of procuring the sale, surrender, transfer, assignment, pledge or hypothecation of life insurance policies to themselves or any other person, is guilty of an offence.
84.1(2)Despite subsection (1), a person or class of persons authorized by the regulations to advertise or hold themselves out as a purchaser of life insurance policies or of benefits under life insurance policies or to deal or trade in life insurance policies for the purposes set out in subsection (1) is not guilty of an offence.
2Section 95 of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (b.2) the following: 
(b.21) authorizing persons or classes of persons for the purposes of subsection 84.1(2);
3Section 132 of the Act is amended by adding the following definitions in alphabetical order: 
“actuarial basis” means the assumptions and methods used by a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries to establish the costs of life insurance, taking into consideration the contingencies of human life, including death, accident, sickness and disease;(base actuarielle)
“exempt policy” means a life insurance policy that is exempt from tax under the Income Tax Act (Canada);(police exonérée)
“side account” means an account associated with or part of a contract and that is intended to hold funds in excess of the total amount permitted to be held in the exempt policy;(compte accessoire)
4The Act is amended by adding after section 150 the following: 
LIMITS ON FUNDS HELD
Limits on funds held
150.1(1)This section does not apply to a contract that provides an annuity or that is prescribed by regulation.
150.1(2)With respect to a contract for which an exempt policy has been issued, subject to any lesser amount provided for in the contract, the funds held in a side account cannot exceed the sum of
(a) the funds required to pay future costs of insurance, related premium taxes, administrative fees or charges, and
(b) any additional funds that are eligible to be held in an exempt policy, as determined under subsection (4).
150.1(3)With respect to a contract for which an exempt policy has been issued but, after issue, ceases to be an exempt policy, the funds held in a side account cannot exceed the funds required to pay future costs of insurance, related premium taxes, administrative fees or charges.
150.1(4)The funds referred to in subsections (2) and (3) shall be determined from time to time by the insurer on an actuarial basis based on the expected remaining lifetime of the person whose life is insured under the contract.
150.1(5)Any funds that exceed the limits set out in subsection (2) or (3) shall not be considered premiums, and shall not be held in a contract or in a side account regardless of the date of issuance of the policy.
5The Act is amended by adding after section 185 the following: 
Regulations
185.1The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing contracts for the purpose of subsection 150.1(1).
6Schedule A of the Act is amended
by adding after
the following:
84.1(1)