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SAPWG Proposes Statutory Accounting Changes and Derivatives Guidance

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Published March 27th, 2026
Detected March 28th, 2026
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Summary

The NAIC's Statutory Accounting Principles Working Group exposed proposed changes to statutory accounting, including guidance on derivatives, residential mortgage loans, and disclosures. Public comments are being accepted on these items until May 1.

What changed

The NAIC's Statutory Accounting Principles (E) Working Group (SAPWG) has exposed several significant proposed changes to statutory accounting practices during its Spring 2026 National Meeting. Key proposals include new guidance on accounting for asset liability management (ALM) derivatives, allowing recognized net deferred assets from fair value losses on qualifying derivatives to be treated as admitted assets. Additionally, SAPWG exposed guidance extending SSAP No. 37 treatment to residential mortgage loans held in certain statutory trusts, and proposed enhanced disclosures for modco assets, funds withheld (FWH) assets, and collateral assets. Revisions to SSAP No. 52 regarding funding agreement-backed notes and clarification on the valuation of FWH liabilities in reinsurance agreements were also exposed.

These proposals are currently open for public comment until May 1. Insurers should review the proposed changes to understand potential impacts on their financial reporting and asset valuation. Specifically, entities utilizing ALM derivatives or holding residential mortgage loans in trusts should assess qualification criteria for the proposed accounting treatments. The enhanced disclosure requirements will also necessitate updates to reporting processes. Failure to comply with final adopted guidance could lead to regulatory scrutiny and potential restatements.

What to do next

  1. Review proposed guidance on ALM derivatives, residential mortgage loans, and disclosures.
  2. Prepare and submit public comments by May 1.
  3. Update accounting policies and reporting processes if guidance is adopted.

Source document (simplified)

March 27, 2026

Key SAPWG developments at Spring 2026 National Meeting of NAIC

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The Statutory Accounting Principles (E) Working Group of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners exposed several key proposed changes to statutory accounting at its meeting during the NAIC’s Spring National Meeting

The Statutory Accounting Principles (E) Working Group (SAPWG) of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) exposed several key proposed changes to statutory accounting at its meeting during the NAIC’s Spring National Meeting that took place in San Diego and virtually in March 2026. Among these consequential developments were the following:

  • SAPWG exposed a proposed issue paper, a revised version of the proposed new Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles (SSAP) No. 109 and related guidance on asset liability management (ALM) derivatives. These are derivatives that “hedge asset/liability duration differences subject to fluctuations as a result of interest rate sensitivity”. Under this proposed guidance, insurers meeting certain requirements would be permitted to report the recognized net deferred assets representing realized fair value losses from these derivatives as admitted assets. Net deferred liabilities, representing realized fair value gains, would be recognized as liabilities. In order to qualify for this treatment, the insurer would have to have a “clearly defined hedging strategy” meeting criteria set forth in the guidance.
  • SAPWG exposed a draft issue paper documenting for the historical record the conceptual changes to statutory accounting relating to residential mortgage loans (RMLs) held in statutory trusts. The guidance would extend SSAP No. 37 treatment to mortgage loans acquired through an investment in a trust meeting certain characteristics. These include the requirement that the trust be U.S.-organized and have assets that consist exclusively of single RML agreements. The guidance would permit these mortgages, under these circumstances, to be included on Schedule B.
  • SAPWG exposed changes to the required disclosures under SSAP No. 1 – Accounting Policies, Risks & Uncertainties, and Other Disclosures. Categories of disclosures were added for modco assets, funds withheld (FWH) assets and collateral assets received and on the balance sheet. The guidance also recommends to the Blanks Working Group that it add these three categories into the restricted asset codes that are included in the investment schedules.
  • SAPWG exposed revisions to SSAP No. 52 – Deposit-Type Contracts relating to funding agreement-backed notes (FABNs) and other funding agreement-backed structures. Under these revisions, an insurer would be required to disclose information on funding agreements that back instruments issued by special purpose vehicles (SPVs).
  • SAPWG exposed guidance addressing inconsistent treatment regarding the valuation of the liability for FWH in a life or health reinsurance agreement. The guidance would clarify that FWH liabilities should be recorded in an amount equal to the book adjusted carrying value (BACV) of the FWH assets. At present, these liabilities are recorded at different values depending on whether the reinsurer is authorized, unauthorized or certified in the relevant state. Public comments are being accepted on the foregoing items until May 1.

In another SAPWG-related development arising out of the NAIC’s Spring National Meeting, the Capital Adequacy Task Force (CATF) exposed changes to risk-based capital (RBC) instructions as referred to CATF by SAPWG. RBC proposal 2026-05-CA, Remove Investment Affiliates Code 4, ** eliminates references in the RBC instructions to investment affiliates. The CATF guidance notes that this change does not prohibit insurers from owning investment affiliates; this concept is reflected in both the Investments of Insurers Model Act and the Insurance Holding Company System Regulatory Act. The CATF guidance does not specifically address how an investment affiliate would now be treated under the RBC framework.

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Named provisions

SSAP No. 109 SSAP No. 37 SSAP No. 1 SSAP No. 52

Classification

Agency
NAIC SAPWG
Published
March 27th, 2026
Comment period closes
May 1st, 2026 (34 days)
Instrument
Consultation
Legal weight
Non-binding
Stage
Draft
Change scope
Substantive

Who this affects

Applies to
Insurers
Industry sector
5221 Commercial Banking 5239 Asset Management 5241 Insurance
Activity scope
Derivatives Accounting Asset Reporting Reinsurance
Threshold
Insurers meeting certain requirements for hedging strategy and trust characteristics.
Geographic scope
United States US

Taxonomy

Primary area
Financial Services
Operational domain
Compliance
Compliance frameworks
BSA/AML
Topics
Insurance Accounting Standards

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