President Bush issued an executive order, Sept. 24, 2001, that mandates that U.S. underwriters, brokers, agents, primary insurers, reinsurers and U.S. citizen employees of foreign firms in the industry are prohibited from engaging in transactions with individuals, government entities, officials and companies from Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba or the Taliban in Afghanistan. The order also includes companies organized or controlled in Cuba; Cuban citizens; and other individuals, entities or vessels appearing on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list.

According to regulations, all property, including insurance contracts in which there is a direct or indirect interest in the entities, is to be blocked or "frozen."

The conference, which will take place at NAII headquarters in Des Plaines, Ill., will address procedural issues that have surfaced for insurance companies from OFAC's regulation, including the inability of an insurance company to cancel a policy mid-term with an individual on the OFAC list, per state insurance regulations, and the uncertainty of individuals insured under a reinsurance contract or who purchased a policy over the Internet.

Names and entities continue to be added to the OFAC list, and are available for review from the OFAC Web site at http://www.treas.gov/ofac.