Life expectancy providers; registration required; denial, suspension, revocation.

(1) A person may not perform the functions of a life expectancy provider without first having registered as a life expectancy provider, except as provided in subsection (6).

(2) Application for registration as a life expectancy provider must be made to the office by the applicant on a form prescribed by the office, under oath and signed by the applicant. The application must be accompanied by a fee of $500.

(3) A completed application shall be evidenced on a form and in a manner prescribed by the office and shall require the registered life expectancy provider to update such information and renew such registration as required by the office.

(4) In the application, the applicant must provide all of the following:

(a) The full name, age, residence address, and business address, and all occupations engaged in by the applicant during the 5 years preceding the date of the application.

(b) A copy of the applicant’s basic organizational documents, if any, including the articles of incorporation, articles of association, partnership agreement, trust agreement, or other similar documents, together with all amendments to such documents.

(c) Copies of all bylaws, rules, regulations, or similar documents regulating the conduct of the applicant’s internal affairs.

(d) A list showing the name, business and residence addresses, and official position of each individual who is responsible for conduct of the applicant’s affairs, including, but not limited to, any member of the board of directors, board of trustees, executive committee, or other governing board or committee and any other person or entity owning or having the right to acquire 10 percent or more of the voting securities of the applicant, and any person performing life expectancies by the applicant.

(e) A sworn biographical statement on forms supplied by the office with respect to each individual identified under paragraph (d), including whether such individual has been associated with any other life expectancy provider or has performed any services for a person in the business of viatical settlements.

(f) A sworn statement of any criminal and civil actions pending or final against the registrant or any individual identified under paragraph (d).

(g) A general description of the following policies and procedures covering all life expectancy determination criteria and protocols:

1. The plan or plans of policies and procedures used to determine life expectancies.

2. A description of the training, including continuing training, of the individuals who determine life expectancies.

3. A description of how the life expectancy provider updates its manuals, underwriting guides, mortality tables, and other reference works and ensures that the provider bases its determination of life expectancies on current data.

(h) A plan for assuring confidentiality of personal, medical, and financial information in accordance with federal and state laws.

(i) An anti-fraud plan as required pursuant to s. 626.99278.

(j) A list of any agreements, contracts, or any other arrangement to provide life expectancies to a viatical settlement provider, viatical settlement broker, or any other person in the business of viatical settlements in connection with any viatical settlement contract or viatical settlement investment.

(5) As part of the application, and on or before March 1 of every 3 years thereafter, a registered life expectancy provider shall file with the office an audit of all life expectancies by the life expectancy provider for the 5 calendar years immediately preceding such audit, which audit shall be conducted and certified by a nationally recognized actuarial firm and shall include only the following:

(a) A mortality table.

(b) The number, percentage, and an actual-to-expected ratio of life expectancies in the following categories: life expectancies of less than 24 months, life expectancies of 25 months to 48 months, life expectancies of 49 months to 72 months, life expectancies of 73 months to 108 months, life expectancies of 109 months to 144 months, life expectancies of 145 months to 180 months, and life expectancies of more than 180 months.

(6) No viatical settlement broker, viatical settlement provider, or insurance agent in the business of viatical settlements in this state shall directly or indirectly own or be an officer, director, or employee of a life expectancy provider.

(7) Each registered life expectancy provider shall provide the office, as applicable, at least 30 days’ advance notice of any change in the registrant’s name, residence address, principal business address, or mailing address.

(8) A person required to be registered by this section shall for 5 years retain copies of all life expectancies and supporting documents and medical records unless those personal medical records are subject to different retention or destruction requirements of a federal or state personal health information law.

(9) An application for life expectancy provider registration shall be approved or denied by the commissioner within 60 calendar days following receipt of a completed application by the commissioner. The office shall notify the applicant that the application is complete. A completed application that is not approved or denied in 60 calendar days following its receipt shall be deemed approved.

(10) The office may, in its discretion, deny the application for a life expectancy provider registration or suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew or continue the registration of a life expectancy provider if the office finds:

(a) Any cause for which registration could have been refused had it then existed and been known to the office;

(b) A violation of any provision of this code or of any other law applicable to the applicant or registrant;

(c) A violation of any lawful order or rule of the department, commission, or office; or

(d) That the applicant or registrant:

1. Has been found guilty of or pled guilty or nolo contendere to a felony or a crime punishable by imprisonment of 1 year or more under the law of the United States of America or of any state thereof or under the law of any other country;

2. Has knowingly and willfully aided, assisted, procured, advised, or abetted any person in the violation of a provision of the insurance code or any order or rule of the department, commission, or office;

3. Has knowingly and with intent to defraud, provided a life expectancy that does not conform to an applicant’s or registrant’s general practice;

4. Does not have a good business reputation or does not have experience, training, or education that qualifies the applicant or registrant to conduct the business of a life expectancy provider; or

5. Has demonstrated a lack of fitness or trustworthiness to engage in the business of issuing life expectancies.

(11) The office may, in lieu of or in addition to any suspension or revocation, assess an administrative fine not to exceed $2,500 for each nonwillful violation or $10,000 for each willful violation by a registered life expectancy provider. The office may also place a registered life expectancy provider on probation for a period not to exceed 2 years.

(12) It is a violation of this section for a person to represent, orally or in writing, that a life expectancy provider’s registration pursuant to this act is in any way a recommendation or approval of the entity or means that the qualifications or abilities have in any way been approved of.

(13) The Financial Services Commission may, by rule, require that all or part of the statements or filings required under this section be submitted by electronic means and in a computer-readable format specified by the commission.