After three years of successful operation, the permanent Actuarial Standards Board is formally established as an entity within the Academy by vote of its members and through its bylaws, charged with creating and reviewing actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs).

The Academy begins process of creating a central disciplinary body within the Academy—the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline—to serve the entire profession by conducting disciplinary investigations and providing confidential guidance to actuaries with respect to actuaries' Code obligations.

The first issue of Contingencies magazine is printed.

Continuing education requirements are added to the newly restructured U.S. Qualifications Standards for those actuaries who sign NAIC Life, Health, and Casualty annual statements.

The Board adopts the Guidelines for Developing Practice Notes, emphasizing the importance of sharing information in an objective, peer-reviewed process.

Globalization of actuarial practice leads to inclusion for the first time in the 2001 Code of language to alert actuaries to the fact that when they practice in jurisdictions outside of the United States, they are also subject to any recognized actuarial standards of conduct promulgated for those jurisdictions, identifying the need for actuaries to be aware of the requirements of law and the primacy of the law when it conflicts with the Code.

The first annual Life and Health Qualifications Seminar is held in Washington to address the removal of nation-specific material by the Society of Actuaries from its syllabus.

The Board adopts a formal written Conflict of Interest policy applicable to all Academy members who provide volunteer services to the Academy.

The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), establishing the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Medicare Part D) and individual Health Savings Accounts, is signed into law.

The Academy unveils The Social Security Game, intended to illustrate options for Social Security financial solvency.