Regulatory Updates

Effective January 1, 2026, the District of Columbia requires all licensed producers with surplus lines authority doing business in DC to transition from a paper filing system to a standardized electronic filing system using OPT_ins_ Please see the attachment for more information.

Effective October 17, 2025, Arizona will update application requirements for the following license classes: Surplus Lines Broker and Life Settlement Brokers. If these new requirements are not met, the application will be rejected.  - Surplus Lines Broker applicants must hold an active Arizona Insurance Producer license with Property and/or Casualty line of authority. - Life Settlement Broker applicants must hold an active Arizona Insurance Producer license with the Life line of authority.

Posted August 5, 2025, West Virginia is soliciting comments regarding the surplus lines export list. Comments must be submitted on or before September 12, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. to the following email address: greg.A.Elam@wv.gov. Please see the attachment for more information. 

Posted August 27, 2025, The Surplus Lines Association of California posted a bulletin that updated the List of Approved Surplus Line Insurers (LASLI) to reflect that: - Removal of Peleus Insurance Company (Virginia) effective July 1, 2025.  The updated LASLI in its entirety is available on the CDI website.  Please see the attachment for more information. 

Posted August 27, 2025, The Pennsylvania Surplus Lines Association (PSLA) published a list of changes for the Eligible Surplus Lines Insurer list. Please see the attachment for more information.

Posted August 22, 2025, New York added a new company to the list of Excess & Surplus lines (E&S) insurers, maintained by the Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY). Please see the attachment for more information.

 Effective July 29, 2025, Georgia added language for residents and nonresidents to be issued a Georgia Access Specialist license. To obtain a license, the applicant must: - Submit an application on the Commissioner-provided form (including an acknowledgement that the Georgia  Access Specialist license is not alone sufficient to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance in Georgia); - Complete Georgia Access Certification Training; - Pass any required exam; - Submit a Counselor Designation Organization Affiliation form; - Complete annual registration on Sircon (no fee required); - Submit a Citizenship Affidavit; and - Be at least 18 years old. - Each Georgia Access Specialist license will expire on August 31. - The licensee must submit a license renewal on the Commissioner-prescribed form by August 31. - Failure to file the required license renewal form will result in license expiration. For more information on Georgia Access Specialists, visit the following links:  - Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 120-2-3-.48 - GA Gov

Effective August 15, 2025, Washington is requiring all resident applicants to submit the licensing application to Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) before scheduling an appointment for fingerprints. 

A person attempting to schedule a fingerprinting appointment will be required to provide the NIPR or OIC transaction number from their submitted application. For more information on these changes, visit Fingerprint Requirements.

Posted August 15, 2025, FINRA requires members to provide associated persons with specified information relating to the uniform registration forms and predispute arbitration. FINRA has observed that members currently satisfy some of these requirements through manual processes, such as the delivery of the information via U.S. mail.

As part of the FINRA Forward initiatives, FINRA has made enhancements to its systems to give members the option of satisfying these requirements electronically via FINRA’s Financial Professional Gateway (FinPro GatewayTM) beginning November 3, 2025. For more information on the changes, visit 

On September 10, 2025, Georgia will host a hearing on new rules and regulations. For more information on the topics, visit Georgia Hearing. Interested parties may submit written comments by September 3, 2025, or provide oral comments on September 10, 2025.