viatical

Analysis

And what about the lawsuits that have started? The life settlement market saw double-digit annual growth for a decade until 2008. When the financial crisis hit, global markets and credit evaporated, and the life settlement markets came to a standstill. How did this happen to a market that was supposedly not correlated to other markets?

On July 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission released a report from its Life Settlements Task Force which recommended that the SEC urge Congress to amend federal securities laws to include life settlements as securities.

The report also recommended that the SEC monitor brokers and providers to assure that legal standards of conduct are being met.

The European Life Settlements Association has launched a code of practice designed to increase protection for investors in the expanding asset class of life settlements.

The publication of the code comes at a time of controversy for life settlements, which have come under increasing scrutiny from regulators and media alike as the asset class has spread further into the retail market.