Do everything possible…

…to encourage entrants into the business and to motivate those already in it to be properly licensed, that’s the idea. And the DFS may have caught wind of it, since insurance as a whole is destined to be reduced by 18% of staffers due to retirements, consolidations and the like. Wisely, Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo has announced that the NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) has launched a new online application process to speed the re-licensing of agents and brokers whose original licenses have been expired for more than two years. The online re-licensing process is available to property/casualty and life and/or accident/health agents and brokers, as well as life and general consultants and life settlement brokers. According to the DFS, the next business day turnaround applies to applicants with no disqualifying conditions, such as disciplinary actions in other states.  Applicants will be required to attest to the completion of pre-qualifying courses and furnish course numbers.  Lapses in individual licenses may occur for various reasons, such as the result of career changes or for personal reasons.  More than 1,200 agents and brokers were re-licensed in 2016. To remind you, New York residents seeking re-licensing must have completed a re-licensing exam within the last two years or hold another license with the same lines of authority being applied for in the re-licensing application.  Non-residents must be in good standing and currently licensed in their declared home state with the same lines of authority being applied for in their New York re-licensing application.  Licenses, which will no longer be mailed upon issuance, can now be printed by licensees through the online system. The re-licensing of individuals whose licensing expired is one of a number of licensing transactions which may be accomplished using the DFS website. Other online licensee transactions include, but are not limited to, filing an original application to act as an individual agent or broker, renewing an individual license, or changing individual licensee address information. Additional information, as well as a link to the re-licensing application, can be found on the DFS website, www.dfs.ny.gov/insurance/relic.htm.

Two good business and public policy reads for the summer are Newt Gingrich’s not-surprisingly profound “Understanding Trump” and Ferris Eanfar’s nonpartisan “Broken Capitalism: This Is How We Fix It,” a look at Capitalism, Liberty, Political Economy, Globalism, Corporations, Corporate Governance, Artificial Intelligence, Income Inequality, Monetary Policy, Value Creation, Poverty—all discussed in his book, highly recommended by Jen Bawden, a friend who has followed Eanfar’s writings and career. Enjoy.…SA