The Academy's Council on Professionalism has published a discussion paper entitled Conflicts of Interest When Doing Volunteer Work. This paper is intended to assist current and future Academy volunteers in identifying and resolving potential conflict of interest issues that may arise when providing volunteer services to the Academy.

Presenters discuss the actuarial profession’s responsibility to the public, as well as  Precept 1 of the Code of Professional Conduct, the state of the profession, and the key aspects of maintaining the profession's relevance.

Slide presentations from the May 18 seminar, Preparing for Change under PBA: Life Company Reserves and Capital are available for download. You will find presentations on "hot topics" and information specific to the implementation challenges related to the Principle-Based Approach (PBA) for statutory reserves and capital. It was jointly sponsored by the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries.

Polls will remain open until 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 2 and all Academy members (active as of July 14, 2011) are eligible to vote in this election. If you have not received an email (or paper) ballot, you may request a replacement ballot by emailing elections@actuary.org. For more information on the election, visit the Academy's Election Center.

Due to the Friday's cancellation of the NAIC Summer 2011 National Meeting in Philadelphia, the Academy has cancelled the Post-NAIC Update/PBA webinar on Sept. 8. Registrants will receive a full refund within two weeks (in the same manner as paid). If you do not receive your refund within this time frame, please email Gabriel Swee at swee@actuary.org.

Read this issue to learn about a recent court ruling on the individual mandate requirement in the Affordable Care Act and proposed rules relating to health exchanges and group health plans released by the Department of Health and Health and Human Services.

Academy Public Interest Committee Chairperson Tom Terry sent a letter to House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson and Ranking Member Xavier Becerra in response to follow-up questions from Terry's July 8 testimony

The Life Financial Reporting Committee has exposed for comment a practice note, Optional Retrospective Application of ASU 2010-26 Acquisition Costs. The committee is accepting comments until Sept. 14, 2011.