(a) In connection with the initial purchase of an insurance product or annuity by a consumer from a covered person, a covered person shall disclose to the consumer, except to the extent the disclosure would not be accurate, all of the following:
(1) That the insurance product or annuity is not a deposit or other obligation of, or guaranteed by, the depository institution or an affiliate of the depository institution.
(2) That the insurance product or annuity is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other agency of the United States, the depository institution, or, if applicable, an affiliate of the depository institution.
(3) In the case of an insurance product or annuity that involves an investment risk, that there is investment risk associated with the product, including the possible loss of value.
(b) In the case of an application for credit in connection with which an insurance product or annuity is solicited, offered, or sold, a covered person shall disclose that the depository institution may not condition an extension of credit on either of the following:
(1) The consumer’s purchase of an insurance product or annuity from the depository institution or any of its affiliates.
(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) (1) The disclosures required by subdivision (a) shall be provided orally and in writing during any solicitation of an insurance product or annuity to a consumer. The disclosures required by subdivision (b) shall also be made orally and in writing at the time the consumer applies for an extension of credit in connection with which an insurance product or annuity will be solicited, offered, or sold.
(2) If a sale of an insurance product or annuity is conducted by mail, a covered person is not required to make the oral disclosures required by subdivision (a). If a covered person takes an application for credit by mail, the covered person is not required to make the oral disclosures required by subdivision (b).
(3) If the sale of an insurance product or annuity is conducted by telephone, a covered person shall provide the written disclosure required by subdivision (a) by mail within three business days, beginning on the first business day after the sale, but excluding Sundays and the legal public holidays specified in subsection (a) of Section 6103 of Title 5 of the United States Code.
(4) Subject to the requirements of subsection (c) of Section 101 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001(c)), a covered person may provide the written disclosures required by subdivisions (a) and (b) through electronic media instead of paper, if the consumer affirmatively consents to receiving the disclosures electronically and if the disclosures are provided in a format that the consumer may retain or obtain later, for example, through printing or storing electronically by downloading. Any disclosures required by subdivision (a) or (b) that are provided by electronic media are not required to be provided orally.
(5) The disclosures provided shall be conspicuous, simple, direct, readily understandable, and designed to call attention to the nature and significance of the information provided. For example, a covered person may use the following disclosures in visual media, including television, broadcasting, ATM screens, billboards, signs, posters, and written advertisements and promotional materials, as appropriate and consistent with subdivisions (a) and (b):
(A) “NOT A DEPOSIT.”
(B) “NOT FDIC-INSURED.”
(C) “NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY.”
(D) “NOT GUARANTEED BY THE BANK (OR SAVINGS ASSOCIATION).”
(E) “MAY GO DOWN IN VALUE.”
(6) (A) A covered person shall provide the disclosures required by subdivisions (a) and (b) in a meaningful form. Examples of the types of methods that could call attention to the nature and significance of the information provided include all of the following:
(i) A plain language heading to call attention to the disclosure.
(ii) A typeface and type size that are easy to read.
(iii) Wide margins and ample line spacing.
(iv) Boldface or italics for key words.
(v) Distinctive type style, and graphic devices, such as shading or sidebars, when the disclosures are combined with other information.
The disclosures required by subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be in the same language as principally used in any oral solicitation leading to the execution of the purchase by the consumer of the insurance product or annuity.
(B) 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.
(C) With respect to 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) A covered person shall obtain from the consumer, at the time the consumer receives the disclosures required by subdivisions (a) and (b), or at the time of initial purchase by the consumer of the insurance product or annuity, a written acknowledgment by the consumer that the consumer received the disclosures. A covered person may permit a consumer to acknowledge receipt of the disclosures electronically or in paper form. If the disclosures required under subdivisions (a) and (b) are provided in connection with a transaction that is conducted by telephone, a covered person shall do the following:
(A) Obtain an oral acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosures and maintain sufficient documentation to show that the acknowledgment was given.
(B) Make reasonable efforts to obtain a written acknowledgment from the consumer.
(d) The disclosures described in subdivision (a) are required in advertisements and promotional material for insurance products or annuities unless the advertisements or promotional material are of a general nature describing or listing the services or products offered by the depository institution.
(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 203, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2003.)