(Dewitt, New York, July 19, 2018) - Louis Atti, chair of the board of Big I New York, the state's largest insurance producer trade association, made the following statement today in response to the New York State Department of Financial Services final adoption of new rules governing the sale of life insurance and annuities. The rules require insurance producers to meet a new, higher standard when recommending products to insurance buyers.

"Independent insurance agents and brokers are committed to providing the best possible products and services to their customers every day. We appreciate the fact that the Department of Financial Services is striving to protect consumers who purchase insurance. Also, I want to acknowledge and thank the department for the efforts it made taking into account some of the issues we raised with earlier proposals. However, we still have concerns about the regulation that the department has adopted. We believe it will make buying life insurance more complicated for consumers and lead to fewer consumers buying these important policies.

We are reviewing with our member agents and brokers the changes the department has adopted, to determine their ultimate impact on consumers. We wholeheartedly support the goal of protecting our customers. Our review will seek to determine whether the regulation will further complicate life and annuity sales in New York, resulting in fewer policies sold where the consumer has access to advice and recommendations from an insurance professional."