A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the definition of a viatical settlement contract to include an exception for certain accredited investors.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 78A‑2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 78A‑2.  Definitions.
When used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
…
(13)	"Viatical settlement contract" means an agreement for the purchase, sale, assignment, transfer, devise, or bequest of all or any portion of the death benefit or ownership of a life insurance policy or contract for consideration which is less than the expected death benefit of the life insurance policy or contract. "Viatical settlement contract" does not include:
a.	The assignment, transfer, sale, devise, or bequest of a death benefit of a life insurance policy or contract made by the viator to an insurance company or to a viatical settlement provider or broker licensed pursuant to the Viatical Settlements Act (Part 5 of Article 58 of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes);
b.	The assignment of a life insurance policy or contract to a bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or other licensed lending institution as collateral for a loan; 
c.	The exercise of accelerated benefits pursuant to the terms of a life insurance policy or contract and consistent with applicable law; or
d.	The assignment, transfer, devise, or bequest, offer to sell, or sale of a viaticated policy to any of the following: (i) a bank, trust company, or savings institution, (ii) an insurance company which has qualified under Chapter 58 of the General Statutes to transact life insurance business in this State, (iii) a dealer, as defined in this section, (iv) an investment company as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. §§ 80a‑1, et seq., (v) a pension or profit‑sharing trust, (vi) a qualified institutional buyer as defined in rules promulgated by the United States Securities Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78a, et seq., or (vii) a person who affirmatively represents that they are an accredited investor, as defined in rules promulgated by the United States Securities Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78a, et seq."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2009.