New York regulator fines Axa Equitable $1.9m for mis-selling

Joining a growing number of insurers to
fall foul of regulators for mis-selling, Axa Equitable has paid a
$1.9m fine to the New York State Insurance Department (NYSID).

The fine was somewhat unusual in that it was
the culmination of an examination of Axa Equitable’s operations and
not the result of any customer complaints.

According to the NYSID, the violations occurred
between 1 January 2001 and 30 June 2006 and involved inaccurate or
incomplete disclosures to consumers buying replacement annuity
contracts and life insurance policies.

The violations typically occurred when
consumers surrendered existing annuities or life policies issued by
other insurers and replaced them with Axa Equitable products.

But for Axa Equitable and New York State the
financial relationship was not a one-way street.

On the same day that the NYSID handed down the
fine to Axa Equitable, the state’s economic development division
announced it was giving Axa a grant of up to $1.25m to pay part of
its cost to renovate the company’s office at Axa Towers in
Syracuse.

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