[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 151 (Monday, August 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40676-40679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-19841]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Rel. No. IC-22109; File No. 812-9672]


Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York, et al.

July 30, 1996.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or the 
``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice of Application for Exemptions under the Investment 
Company Act of 1940 (the ``1940 Act'').

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APPLICANTS: Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York (the 
``Company''), Allstate Life of New York Separate Account A (the 
``Variable Account''), and Allstate Life Financial Services, Inc. 
(``ALFS'').

RELEVANT 1940 ACT SECTIONS: Order requested under Section 6(c) of the 
1940 Act for exemptions from Sections 26(a)(2)(C) and 27(c)(2) of the 
1940 Act.

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants seek an order permitting the Company 
to deduct a mortality and expense risk charge from: (i) the assets of 
the Variable Account in connection with the offer and sale of certain 
flexible premium deferred variable annuity certificates (the 
``Contracts'') and any contracts offered in the future (``Future 
Contracts'') by the Company which are materially similar to the 
Contracts; and (ii) the assets of any other variable accounts 
established in the future (``Future Accounts'') by the Company, in 
connection with the offer and sale of Future Contracts. Applicants 
propose that the order extend to any broker-dealer (``Other Broker-
Dealers'') which may serve in the future as principal underwriter with 
respect to the Contracts or Future Contracts.

FILING DATE: The application was filed June 7, 1996.

HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An order granting the application 
will be

[[Page 40677]]

issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. Interested persons may 
request a hearing on this application by writing to the Secretary of 
the SEC and serving Applicants with a copy of the request, personally 
or by mail. Hearing requests must be received by the Commission by 5:30 
p.m. on August 26, 1996, and should be accompanied by proof of service 
on Applicants in the form of an affidavit or, for lawyers, by 
certificate of service. Hearing requests should state the nature of the 
interest, the reason for the request, and the issues contested. Persons 
may request notification of the date of a hearing by writing to the 
Secretary of the SEC.

ADDRESSES: Secretary, SEC, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 
20549. Applicants, c/o David E. Stone, Esq., Allstate Life Insurance 
Company of New York, 3100 Sanders Road, Northbrook, Illinois 60062.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter R. Marcin, Law Clerk, or Wendy Finck Friedlander, Deputy Chief, 
Office of Insurance Products, Division of Investment Management, at 
(202) 942-0670.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Following is a summary of the application. 
The complete application is available for a fee from the Public 
Reference Branch of the SEC.

Applicants' Representations

    1. The Company, a stock life insurance company incorporated in New 
York, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allstate Life Insurance Company 
(``Allstate Life''), a stock life insurance company incorporated in 
Illinois, which is wholly owned by Allstate Insurance Company 
(``Allstate''), a stock property-liability insurance company 
incorporated under the laws of Illinois.
    2. The Company established the Variable Account under New York law 
on December 22, 1995 to fund variable annuity contracts. The Variable 
Account is registered under the 1940 Act as a unit investment trust.
    3. The Variable Account is currently divided into nine sub-
accounts. Each sub-account will invest exclusively in the shares of a 
designated investment portfolio (each, a ``Portfolio'') of AIM Variable 
Insurance Funds, Inc. (the ``Fund''). The Company, in the future, may 
establish additional sub-accounts to invest in other Portfolios of the 
Fund or in other funds. The Company also may establish Future Accounts 
to support Future Contracts.
    4. ALFS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate Life, will serve as 
the distributor and principal underwriter for the Contracts. ALFS is 
registered with the Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 as a broker-dealer and is a member of the National Association of 
Securities Dealers, Inc.
    5. The Contracts are designed for use by individuals in retirement 
plans that qualify for special federal income tax treatment under 
Sections 401, 403, 408, or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code 
(``Qualified Plans'') and in retirement plans that do not qualify for 
special tax treatment under those sections.
    Contract owners may allocate premium payments to one or more sub-
accounts of the Variable Account or to the Company's general account 
(``Fixed Account''). The Contracts require a minimum initial premium 
payment of $5,000 ($2,000 in the case of a Qualified Plan). Subsequent 
premium payments must be at least $500 and may be made at any time 
prior to the date on which income payments begin (``Payout Start 
Date''). Under an automatic additions program, however, the minimum 
purchase payment for allocation to the Variable Account is $100 and, 
for allocation to the Fixed Account, the minimum purchase payment is 
$500.
    6. The Contracts provide for a guaranteed death benefit. If the 
Contract owner dies before the annuity date, the Company will pay a 
death benefit to the beneficiary, upon receipt of due proof of death 
and a payment election. The death benefit is based on the largest of 
the following amounts: (a) the Contract value on the date the Company 
determines the death benefit; (b) the amount that would have been 
payable in the event of a full withdrawal of the Contract value on the 
date the Company determines the death benefit; (c) the Contract value 
on every seventh Contract anniversary beginning on the date the 
Contract was issued immediately preceding the date the Company 
determines the death benefit, adjusted by any purchase payments, 
withdrawals and charges made between such death benefit anniversary and 
the date the Company determines the death benefit; or (d) an enhanced 
death benefit equal to the greatest of the anniversary values as of the 
date the Company determines the death benefit. The anniversary value is 
equal to the Contract value on a Contract anniversary, increased by 
purchase payments made since that anniversary and reduced by the amount 
of any partial withdrawals since that anniversary. Anniversary values 
will be calculated for each Contract anniversary prior to the earlier 
of (i) the date the death benefit is determined and (ii) the date the 
deceased attained age 75 or 5 years after the date the Contract was 
established, if later.
    7. The Company reserves the right to assess a $10 charge on each 
transfer in excess of twelve per Contract year, excluding transfers 
through dollar cost averaging \1\ and automatic fund rebalancing.\2\
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    \1\ Dollar cost averaging permits the Owner to transfer a 
specified amount every month from the one year guarantee period sub-
account of the Fixed Account to any sub-account of the Variable 
Account. Dollar cost averaging cannot be used to transfer amounts to 
the Fixed Account.
    \2\ Automatice fund rebalancing allows all of the money 
allocated to sub-accounts of the Variable Account to be rebalanced 
to the desired allocation on a quarterly basis, determined from the 
first date that the owner decides to rebalance. Each quarter, money 
will be transferred among sub-accounts of the Variable Account to 
achieve the desired allocation.
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    8. The Company will deduct an administrative expense charge from 
the assets of the Separate Account that is equal, on an annual basis, 
to 0.10% of the daily net assets allocated to the sub-accounts of the 
Variable Account.
    9. An annual Contract maintenance charge of $35 per Contract year 
will be charged when Contract value is less than $50,000 at the time of 
the deduction.
    10. Applicants represent that the administrative expense charge and 
the annual Contract maintenance charge will not increase. In addition, 
Applicants represent that these charges are deducted in reliance on 
Rule 26a-1 under the 1940 Act.
    11. No deductions are made from purchase payments. There are no 
withdrawal charges on amounts withdrawn up to 10% of the amount of 
purchase payments per Contract year, but amounts withdrawn in excess of 
this may be subject to a withdrawal charge, depending on the payment 
year in which the withdrawal is made, at a maximum rate of 7% of 
purchase payments withdrawn, declining at a rate of 1% per year until 
the eighth year when the rate is 0%.
    12. The Company will deduct a mortality and expense risk charge 
that is equal, on an annual basis, to 1.35% (including 0.10% for the 
enhanced death benefit) of the daily net assets allocated to the sub-
accounts of the Variable Account. Applicants state that approximately 
0.95% of the 1.35% charge is attributable to mortality risk, and 
approximately 0.40% is attributable to expense risk. The mortality and 
expense risk charge is guaranteed not to increase over the life of the 
Contract.
    13. The mortality risk arises from the Company's guarantee to cover 
all death benefits and to make income payments in accordance with the 
income plan

[[Page 40678]]

selected and income payment tables in the Contract. The expense risk 
arises from the possibility that the Contract maintenance and 
administrative expense charges will be insufficient to cover actual 
administrative expenses.
    14. If the mortality and expense risk charge is insufficient to 
cover the actual costs of the risks assumed, the Company will bear the 
loss. If the charge exceeds actual costs, this excess will be profit to 
the Company and will be available for any corporate purpose, including 
payment of expenses relating to the distribution of the Contracts. The 
Company expects a profit from the mortality and expense risk charge.
    15. The Company may incur premium taxes relating to the Contracts, 
currently ranging up to 3.5%, and will deduct these taxes either at the 
Payout Start Date or upon surrender of the Contract.

Applicants' Legal Analysis and Conditions

    1. Section 6(c) of the 1940 Act authorizes the Commission to exempt 
any person, security or transaction, or any class or classes of 
persons, securities or transaction, from the provisions of the 1940 Act 
and the rules promulgated thereunder if and to the extent that such 
exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and 
consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly 
intended by the policy and provisions of the 1940 Act.
    2. Sections 26(a)(2)(C) and 27(c)(2) of the 1940 Act, in pertinent 
part, prohibit a registered unit investment trust and any depositor 
thereof or underwriter therefor from selling periodic payment plan 
certificates unless the proceeds of all payments (other than sales 
load) are deposited with a qualified bank as trustee or custodian and 
held under arrangements which prohibit any payment to the depositor or 
principal underwriter except a fee, not exceeding such reasonable 
amount as the Commission may prescribe, for performing bookkeeping and 
other administrative services of a character normally performed by the 
bank itself.
    3. Applicants request an order of the Commission under Section 6(c) 
of the 1940 Act granting exemptions from Sections 26(a)(2)(C) and 
27(c)(2) of the 1940 Act to the extent necessary to permit the 
deduction of a mortality and expense risk charge from: (i) the assets 
of the Variable Account in connection with the offer and sale of 
Contracts and Future Contracts; and (ii) the assets of any Future 
Account, in connection with the officer and sale of Future Contracts. 
Applicants propose that the order extend to Other Broker-Dealers which 
may serve in the future as principal underwriter for the Contracts or 
Future Contracts. Applicants assert that the requested exemptions are 
appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection 
of investors and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and 
provisions of the 1940 Act.
    4. Applicants assert that the relief would promote competitiveness 
in the variable annuity market by eliminating the need to file 
redundant exemptive applications, thereby reducing administrative 
expenses and maximizing efficient use of resources. Applicants submit 
that the delay and expense involved in having to seek exemptive relief 
repeatedly would impair the ability of the Company to take advantage 
effectively of business opportunities as those opportunities arise, and 
would not provide any additional benefit or protection to Contract 
owners. Indeed, Contract owners may be disadvantaged as a result of 
additional overhead costs incurred by the Applicants, any Future 
Account, or Other Broker-Dealers.
    5. Applicants assert that the 1.25% mortality and expense risks 
charge (excluding the 0.10% risk charge for the enhanced death benefit) 
to be assessed under the Contracts and Future Contracts is within the 
range of industry practice for comparable variable annuity products. 
Applicants represent that this determination is based upon Applicants' 
analysis of publicly available information about similar industry 
products, taking into consideration such factors as: annuity purchase 
rate guarantees, death benefit guarantees, other contract charges, the 
frequency of charges, the administrative services performed by the 
company with respect to the contracts, the means of promotion, the 
market for the contracts, investment options under the contracts, 
purchase payment transfer, dollar cost averaging and portfolio 
rebalancing features, and the tax status of the features. Applicants 
represent that the Company will maintain at its home office, and make 
available to the Commission upon request, a memorandum detailing the 
methodology used in, and the results of, the Applicants' comparative 
survey.
    6. The Company also represents that the mortality risk charge of 
0.10% imposed on the Contracts for the enhanced death benefit is 
reasonable in relation to the risks assumed by the Company under the 
Contracts. In arriving at this determination, the Company conducted a 
large number of trials at various issue ages to determine the expected 
cost of the enhanced death benefit.
    First, hypothetical asset returns were projected using generally 
accepted actuarial simulation methods. For each asset return pattern 
thus generated, hypothetical accumulated values were calculated by 
applying the projected asset returns to the initial value in a 
hypothetical account. Each accumulated value so calculated was then 
compared to the amount of the enhanced death benefit payable in the 
event of the hypothetical Contract owner's death during the year in 
question. By analyzing the results of several thousand such 
simulations, the Company was able to determine actuarially the level 
cost of providing the enhanced death benefit. Based on this analysis, 
the Company determined that a mortality risk charge of 0.10% was a 
reasonable charge for providing the enhanced death benefit. Applicants 
represent that the Company will maintain at its home office, and make 
available to the Commission upon request, a memorandum detailing the 
methodology used in, and the results of, the Applicants' comparative 
survey.
    7. Applicants acknowledge that the withdrawal charge may be 
insufficient to cover all costs relating to the distribution of the 
Contracts. To the extent distribution costs are not covered by the 
withdrawal charge, the Company will recover its distribution costs from 
the assets of the general account. Those assets may include that 
portion of the mortality and expense risk charge which is profit to the 
Company.
    8. Applicants represent that the Company has concluded that there 
is a reasonable likelihood that the distribution financing arrangement 
proposed under the Contracts and Future Contracts will benefit the 
Variable Account, the Future Accounts, Contract owners, and Future 
Contract owners. The basis for these conclusions is set forth in a 
memorandum which will be maintained by the Company at its home office 
and will be made available to the Commission upon request.
    9. The Company represents that the Variable Account and any Future 
Account will invest only in open-end management investment companies 
which undertake, in the event companies should adopt a plan for 
financing distribution expenses pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 
Act, to have such plan formulated and approved by the company's board 
of directors/trustees, a majority of whom are not interested persons of 
the Company.

[[Page 40679]]

Conclusion

    Applicants assert that for the reasons and upon the facts set forth 
above, the requested exemptions from Sections 26(a)(2)(C) and 27(c)(2) 
of the 1940 Act are necessary and appropriate in the public interest 
and consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly 
intended by the policy and provisions of the 1940 Act.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment management, 
pursuant to delegated authority.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-19841 Filed 8-2-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M