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Corporate and Bank-Owned Life Insurance

With corporate- and bank-owned life insurance, the employer, corporation or bank is both the owner and beneficiary of permanent life insurance covering the lives of participating executives. 

Corporate- and bank-owned life insurance offers the following benefits to employers:

  • Corporate- and bank-owned life insurance can be used as a source of funds to help support deferred compensation and other post-retirement programs.
  • Bank-owned life insurance can be a source of funds that potentially offers annual after-tax returns that are higher than the returns earned on other bank investments.
  • Policy earnings may come from growth in the account value each year and from life insurance proceeds when an employee dies.
  • Policy earnings are tax-deferred until accessed.

The insurance amount is usually related to the benefits projected to be payable on the basis of current pay, or sometimes on amounts that anticipate some future pay increases. Each employee must consent to the corporation or bank owning the policy and must be notified of the policy’s maximum amount of coverage and beneficiary designation. In turn, the corporation or bank pays the premiums, owns the cash value of the policies, and is beneficiary of the policy.

MM202508-302381