PART 14—CONSUMER PROTECTION IN SALES OF INSURANCE Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1 et seq., Source: 65 FR 75839, Dec. 4, 2000, unless otherwise noted. § 14.10 Purpose and scope. (a) General rule. (1) Any national bank or Federal savings association; or (2) Any other person that is engaged in such activities at an office of the national bank or Federal savings association, or on behalf of the national bank or Federal savings association. (b) Application to operating subsidiaries. [79 FR 28398, May 16, 2014, as amended at 80 FR 28472, May 18, 2015] § 14.20 Definitions. As used in this part: (a) Affiliate (b) Bank et seq. (c) Company (d) Consumer (e) Control (f)(1) Covered person (i) A bank; (ii) A Federal savings association; or (iii) Any other person only when the person sells, solicits, advertises, or offers an insurance product or annuity to a consumer at an office of the bank or Federal savings association or on behalf of a bank or Federal savings association. (2) For purposes of this definition, activities on behalf of a bank or Federal savings association include activities where a person, whether at an office of the bank or Federal savings association or at another location sells, solicits, advertises, or offers an insurance product or annuity and at least one of the following applies: (i) The person represents to a consumer that the sale, solicitation, advertisement, or offer of any insurance product or annuity is by or on behalf of the bank or Federal savings association; (ii) The bank or Federal savings association refers a consumer to a seller of insurance products or annuities and the bank or Federal savings association has a contractual arrangement to receive commissions or fees derived from a sale of an insurance product or annuity resulting from that referral; or (iii) Documents evidencing the sale, solicitation, advertising, or offer of an insurance product or annuity identify or refer to the bank or Federal savings association. (g) Domestic violence (1) Attempting to cause or causing or threatening another person physical harm, severe emotional distress, psychological trauma, rape, or sexual assault; (2) Engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts toward another person, including following the person without proper authority, under circumstances that place the person in reasonable fear of bodily injury or physical harm; (3) Subjecting another person to false imprisonment; or (4) Attempting to cause or causing damage to property so as to intimidate or attempt to control the behavior of another person. (h) Electronic media (i) Office (j) Federal savings association means (k) Subsidiary [65 FR 75839, Dec. 4, 2000, as amended at 79 FR 28398, May 16, 2014] § 14.30 Prohibited practices. (a) Anticoercion and antitying rules. (1) The purchase of an insurance product or annuity from the bank, Federal savings association, or any of their affiliates; or (2) An agreement by the consumer not to obtain, or a prohibition on the consumer from obtaining, an insurance product or annuity from an unaffiliated entity. (b) Prohibition on misrepresentations generally. (1) The fact that an insurance product or annuity sold or offered for sale by a covered person or any subsidiary of the bank or Federal savings association is not backed by the Federal government, the bank, or the Federal savings association, or the fact that the insurance product or annuity is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); (2) In the case of an insurance product or annuity that involves investment risk, the fact that there is an investment risk, including the potential that principal may be lost and that the product may decline in value; or (3) In the case of a bank, Federal savings association, or subsidiary of the bank or Federal savings association at which insurance products or annuities are sold or offered for sale, the fact that: (i) The approval of an extension of credit to a consumer by the bank, Federal savings association, or subsidiary may not be conditioned on the purchase of an insurance product or annuity by the consumer from the bank, Federal savings association, or a subsidiary of the bank or Federal savings association; and (ii) The consumer is free to purchase the insurance product or annuity from another source. (c) Prohibition on domestic violence discrimination. [65 FR 75839, Dec. 4, 2000, as amended at 79 FR 28398, May 16, 2014] § 14.40 What a covered person must disclose. (a) Insurance disclosures. (1) The insurance product or annuity is not a deposit or other obligation of, or guaranteed by, the bank, Federal savings association, or an affiliate of the bank or Federal savings association; (2) The insurance product or annuity is not insured by the FDIC or any other agency of the United States, the bank, Federal savings association, or (if applicable) an affiliate of the bank or Federal savings association; and (3) In the case of an insurance product or annuity that involves an investment risk, there is investment risk associated with the product, including the possible loss of value. (b) Credit disclosure. (1) The consumer's purchase of an insurance product or annuity from the bank, Federal savings association, or any of their affiliates; or (2) The consumer's agreement not to obtain, or a prohibition on the consumer from obtaining, an insurance product or annuity from an unaffiliated entity. (c) Timing and method of disclosures In general. (2) Exception for transactions by mail. (3) Exception for transactions by telephone. (4) Electronic form of disclosures. (ii) Any disclosures required by paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section that are provided by electronic media are not required to be provided orally. (5) Disclosures must be readily understandable. • NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC-INSURED • NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY • NOT GUARANTEED BY THE [BANK] [FEDERAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATION] • MAY GO DOWN IN VALUE (6) Disclosures must be meaningful. (A) A plain-language heading to call attention to the disclosures; (B) A typeface and type size that are easy to read; (C) Wide margins and ample line spacing; (D) Boldface or italics for key words; and (E) Distinctive type style, and graphic devices, such as shading or sidebars, when the disclosures are combined with other information. (ii) A covered person has not provided the disclosures in a meaningful form if the covered person merely states to the consumer that the required disclosures are available in printed material, but does not provide the printed material when required and does not orally disclose the information to the consumer when required. (iii) With respect to those disclosures made through electronic media for which paper or oral disclosures are not required, the disclosures are not meaningfully provided if the consumer may bypass the visual text of the disclosures before purchasing an insurance product or annuity. (7) Consumer acknowledgment. (i) Obtain an oral acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosures and maintain sufficient documentation to show that the acknowledgment was given; and (ii) Make reasonable efforts to obtain a written acknowledgment from the consumer. (d) Advertisements and other promotional material for insurance products or annuities. [65 FR 75839, Dec. 4, 2000, as amended at 79 FR 28398, May 16, 2014] § 14.50 Where insurance activities may take place. (a) General rule. (b) Referrals. [65 FR 75839, Dec. 4, 2000, as amended at 79 FR 28399, May 16, 2014] § 14.60 Qualification and licensing requirements for insurance sales personnel. A bank or Federal savings association may not permit any person to sell or offer for sale any insurance product or annuity in any part of its office or on its behalf, unless the person is at all times appropriately qualified and licensed under applicable State insurance licensing standards with regard to the specific products being sold or recommended. [65 FR 75839, Dec. 4, 2000, as amended at 79 FR 28399, May 16, 2014] Appendix A to Part 14—Consumer Grievance Process Any consumer who believes that any bank, Federal savings association, or any other person selling, soliciting, advertising, or offering insurance products or annuities to the consumer at an office of the bank or Federal savings association, or on behalf of the bank or Federal savings association, has violated the requirements of this part should contact the Customer Assistance Group, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, (800) 613-6743, P.O. Box 53570, Houston, TX 77052, or www.helpwithmybank.gov. [87 FR 27483, May 9, 2022]