Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America has agreed to pay $10 million and refund eligible customers after a regulatory review of certain annuity sales the Golden Valley-based company made from 2001 through 2008.
The agreement, struck in August, involves 43 states and covers more than two dozen fixed annuity products Allianz Life sold during the eight-year period, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which announced the agreement Thursday.
Minnesota's share of the $10 million penalty is expected to be about $346,100.
The multistate review was part of a routine conduct market review that started after Allianz Life agreed to pay $10 million in 2008 to settle charges by the California Department of Insurance that it targeted thousands of seniors in heavy-handed and deceptive annuity sales.
The examination also looked at how suitable the two-tiered annuities were for customers but was much broader and examined such things as how Allianz marketed and sold the annuities and how it handled customer complaints about them.
While not a particularly large fine as multistate settlements go, the agreement has broader impacts. Allianz Life also agreed to change the way it markets the so-called two-tiered annuities, and to set up a process for reviewing new complaints about them and re-examining old complaints previously filed under new guidelines. The company will issue complete refunds where appropriate.
In a statement, Allianz Life said it was pleased that the agreement contained no allegations of wrongdoing and requires only "minor modifications" to its practices.
"Although we could have continued to dispute the penalty, we would have lost the opportunity to resolve the matter on a large-scale basis," the company said in the statement.
