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Truist and Fifth Third pause sales of Delaware Life products amid federal investigations

The decision follows federal probes into how the insurer reported approximately $20 billion in assets linked to entities controlled by owner Mark Walter.

The short version

  • Truist Financial Corp. and Fifth Third Bancorp have temporarily stopped selling insurance products from Mark Walter's Delaware Life.
  • The pause stems from ongoing SEC and federal prosecutor investigations into how Delaware Life's parent company reported around $20 billion in assets tied to other Walter-controlled entities.
  • Delaware Life previously revised its reported share of assets affiliated with Walter's other businesses from 3% to 42% following grand jury subpoenas in February.
  • Delaware Life is actively meeting with the banks to support current contracts and discuss efforts to reduce its volume of affiliated-party assets, while Walter's holding company maintains there has been no fraud.

Key facts

  • Truist Financial Corp. and Fifth Third Bancorp paused sales of products issued by Delaware Life.[CNBC]
  • The SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan are investigating Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life and Annuity regarding the reporting of roughly $20 billion in affiliated assets.[CNBC]
  • Both Delaware Life and Clear Spring received federal grand jury subpoenas in February.[CNBC]
  • Following a post-subpoena review, Delaware Life adjusted its classified percentage of total invested assets affiliated with other Walter-controlled companies from 3% to 42%.[CNBC]
  • Walter's holding company, TWG Global, stated that no fraud has occurred at Delaware Life or Clear Spring.[CNBC]

What remains uncertain

  • The full scope and potential legal outcome of the SEC and federal prosecutor probes remain undetermined.[CNBC]
  • It is unclear whether Truist and Fifth Third will resume selling Delaware Life products after reviewing the insurer's efforts to lower its affiliated-party asset levels.[CNBC]

Sources