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Guidance for actuaries

In addition to considering cases involving possible violations of the Code of Professional Conduct, the ABCD provides guidance to actuaries who ask for help in interpreting the Code and/or actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs).

In some cases, the requests are informal. Generally, an individual ABCD member answers an informal inquiry. These responses represent the individual ABCD member's considered opinion, not necessarily the views of the ABCD as a whole.

In other cases, more formal responses are requested. The ABCD as a whole considers such matters, and, if appropriate, provides written formal guidance.

The ABCD also responds to requests for guidance from actuarial students and to requests for information from others, such as users of actuarial services.

How to request guidance

Most requests for guidance are made by e-mail or by phone to the ABCD office (guidance@abcdboard.org, 202.223.8196) or to an individual ABCD member.

If you prefer, you may also fax your request to the ABCD office (attention: Thomas Griffin) at 202.872.1948, or send it by mail to:

Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline
1850 M Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036

If you send your request for guidance to the ABCD office, Senior Staff Attorney Thomas Griffin will contact you. He may provide guidance himself, if the matter does not involve technical actuarial issues, or he may refer the request to one or more members of the ABCD.

Whether the request comes to the ABCD office or directly to an ABCD member, informal guidance is generally provided within a few days, and sometimes immediately. In unusual circumstances, it may take longer.

Sometimes, actuaries ask for the opinion of the entire ABCD. This involves all members of the ABCD and is a slower process, which can take months.

Before you request guidance

This page and the main Guidance page offer a very brief overview of the ABCD guidance process. To learn more about how it works, see Section 1 of the ABCD's Rules of Procedure, which discusses

• the difference between informal guidance and an expression of opinion by the entire ABCD
• confidentiality considerations
• the various ways the ABCD responds to requests for

Questions?

If you have any questions about requesting guidance, contact Thomas Griffin at 202.223.8196 or griffin@actuary.org.