Terms Used In New York Laws > Retirement and Social Security > Article 2 - New York State Employees' Retirement System

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affiliate: means a person which, directly or indirectly, owns at least ten percent but less than fifty percent of the financial guaranty insurance corporation or which is at least ten percent but less than fifty percent, directly or indirectly, owned by a financial guaranty insurance corporation. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Aggregate net liability: means the aggregate amount of insured unpaid principal, interest and other monetary payments, if any, of guarantied obligations insured or assumed, less reinsurance ceded and less collateral. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Average annual debt service: means the amount of insured unpaid principal and interest on an obligation, multiplied by the number of such insured obligations (assuming each obligation represents one thousand dollars par value), divided by the amount equal to the aggregate life of all such obligations (assuming each obligation represents one thousand dollars par value). See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Collateral: means :
  
  (1) cash;
  
  (2) the cash flow from specific obligations which are not callable and scheduled to be received based on expected prepayment speed on or prior to the date of scheduled debt service (including scheduled redemptions or prepayments) on the insured obligation provided that (i) such specific obligations are directly payable by, guaranteed by or backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, (ii) in the case of insured obligations denominated or payable in foreign currency as permitted under paragraph four of subsection (b) of section six thousand nine hundred four of this article, such specific obligations are directly payable by, guaranteed by or backed by the full faith and credit of such foreign government or the central bank thereof, or (iii) such specific obligations are insured by the same insurer that insures the obligations being collateralized, and the cash flows from such specific obligations are sufficient to cover the insured scheduled payments on the obligations being collateralized;
  
  (3) the market value of investment grade obligations, other than obligations evidencing an interest in the project or projects financed with the proceeds of the insured obligations;
  
  (4) the face amount of each letter of credit that:
  
  (A) is irrevocable;
  
  (B) provides for payment under the letter of credit in lieu of or as reimbursement to the insurer for payment required under a financial guaranty insurance policy;
  
  (C) is issued, presentable and payable either:
  
  (i) at an office of the letter of credit issuer in the United States; or
  
  (ii) at an office of the letter of credit issuer located in the jurisdiction in which the trustee or paying agent for the insured obligation is located;
  
  (D) contains a statement that either:
  
  (i) identifies the insurer and any successor by operation of law, including any liquidator, rehabilitator, receiver or conservator, as the beneficiary; or
  
  (ii) identifies the trustee or the paying agent for the insured obligation as the beneficiary;
  
  (E) contains a statement to the effect that the obligation of the letter of credit issuer under the letter of credit is an individual obligation of such issuer and is in no way contingent upon reimbursement with respect thereto;
  
  (F) contains an issue date and a date of expiration;
  
  (G) either:
  
  (i) has a term at least as long as the shorter of the term of the insured obligation or the term of the financial guaranty policy; or
  
  (ii) provides that the letter of credit shall not expire without thirty days prior written notice to the beneficiary and allows for drawing under the letter of credit in the event that, prior to expiration, the letter of credit is not renewed or extended or a substitute letter of credit or alternate collateral meeting the requirements of this subsection is not provided;
  
  (H) states that it is governed by the laws of the state of New York or by the 1983 or 1993 Revision of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits of the International Chamber of Commerce (Publication 400 or 500) or any successor Revision if approved by the superintendent, and contains a provision for an extension of time, of not less than thirty days after resumption of business, to draw against the letter of credit in the event that one or more of the occurrences described in Article 19 of Publication 400 or 500 occurs; and
  
  (I) is issued by a bank, trust company, or savings and loan association that:
  
  (i) is organized and existing under the laws of the United States or any state thereof or, in the case of a non-domestic financial institution, has a branch or agency office licensed under the laws of the United States or any state thereof and is domiciled in a member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development having a sovereign rating in one of the top two generic lettered rating classifications by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization acceptable to the superintendent;
  
  (ii) has (or is the principal operating subsidiary of a financial institution holding company that has) a long-term debt rating of at least investment grade; and
  
  (iii) is not a parent, subsidiary or affiliate of the trustee or paying agent, if any, with respect to the insured obligation if such trustee or paying agent is the named beneficiary of the letter of credit; or
  
  (5) the amount of credit protection available to the insurer (or its nominee) under each credit default swap that:
  
  (A) may not be amended without the consent of the insurer and may only be terminated: (i) at the option of the insurer; (ii) at the option of the counterparty to the insurer (or its nominee), if the credit default swap provides for the payment of a termination amount equal to the replacement cost of the terminated credit default swap determined with reference to standard documentation of the International Swap and Derivatives Association, Inc. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Commercial real estate: means income producing real property other than residential property consisting of less than five units. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Commissioner: means the commissioner, director or superintendent of financial services in any other state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Completed operations liability: means liability arising out of the installation, maintenance, or repair of any product at a site which is not owned or controlled by:
  
  (1) any person who performs that work; or
  
  (2) any person who hires an independent contractor to perform that work; but shall include liability for activities which are completed or abandoned before the date of the occurrence giving rise to the liability. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Contingency reserve: means an additional liability reserve established to protect policyholders against the effects of adverse economic developments or cycles or other unforeseen circumstances. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• corporation: means an insurer licensed to transact the business of financial guaranty insurance in this state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Credit default swap: means an agreement referencing the credit derivative definitions published from time to time by the International Swap and Derivatives Association, Inc. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Excess spread: means , with respect to any insured issue of asset-backed securities, the excess of (A) the scheduled cash flow on the underlying assets that is reasonably projected to be available, over the term of the insured securities after payment of the expenses associated with the insured issue, to make debt service payments on the insured securities over (B) the scheduled debt service requirements on the insured securities, provided that such excess is held in the same manner as collateral is required to be held under subsection (g) of this section. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Financial guaranty insurance: means a surety bond, an insurance policy or, when issued by an insurer or any person doing an insurance business as defined in paragraph one of subsection (b) of section one thousand one hundred one of this chapter, an indemnity contract, and any guaranty similar to the foregoing types, under which loss is payable, upon proof of occurrence of financial loss, to an insured claimant, obligee or indemnitee as a result of any of the following events:
  
  (A) failure of any obligor on or issuer of any debt instrument or other monetary obligation (including equity securities guarantied under a surety bond, insurance policy or indemnity contract) to pay when due to be paid by the obligor or scheduled at the time insured to be received by the holder of the obligation, principal, interest, premium, dividend or purchase price of or on, or other amounts due or payable with respect to, such instrument or obligation, when such failure is the result of a financial default or insolvency or, provided that such payment source is investment grade, any other failure to make payment, regardless of whether such obligation is incurred directly or as guarantor by or on behalf of another obligor that has also defaulted;
  
  (B) changes in the levels of interest rates, whether short or long term or the differential in interest rates between various markets or products;
  
  (C) changes in the rate of exchange of currency;
  
  (D) changes in the value of specific assets or commodities, financial or commodity indices, or price levels in general; or
  
  (E) other events which the superintendent determines are substantially similar to any of the foregoing. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Financially impaired: means a risk retention group:
  
  (1) whose admitted assets are less than the sum of its aggregate liabilities and the amount of surplus to policyholders required to be maintained by a domestic risk retention group authorized to do the same kind or kinds of insurance; or
  
  (2) whose admitted assets are less than the sum of its aggregate liabilities and outstanding capital stock; or
  
  (3) which is insolvent. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governmental unit: means the United States of America, Canada, a member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development having a sovereign rating in one of the top three generic lettered rating classifications by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization acceptable to the superintendent, a state, territory or possession of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, a province of Canada, a municipality, or a political subdivision of any of the foregoing, or any public agency or instrumentality thereof. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Hazardous financial condition: means that, based on its present or reasonably anticipated financial condition, a risk retention group, although not yet financially impaired, is unlikely to be able:
  
  (1) to meet obligations to policyholders with respect to known claims and reasonably anticipated claims; or
  
  (2) to pay other obligations in the normal course of business. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insolvent: means a risk retention group whose admitted assets are less than the aggregate amount of its liabilities. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Insurance: means primary insurance, excess insurance, reinsurance, excess line insurance, and any other arrangement for shifting and distributing risk which is determined to be insurance under the laws of this state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Investment grade: means that:
  
  (1) the obligation or parity obligation of the same issuer has been determined to be in one of the top four generic lettered rating classifications by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization acceptable to the superintendent;
  
  (2) the obligation or parity obligation of the same issuer has been identified in writing by such nationally recognized statistical rating organization to be of investment grade quality; or
  
  (3) if the obligation or parity obligation of the same issuer has not been submitted to any such nationally recognized statistical rating organization, the obligation is determined to be investment grade (as indicated by a rating in category 1 or 2) by the Securities Valuation Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Liability: means legal liability for damages (including costs of defense, legal costs and fees, and other claims expenses) because of injuries to other persons, damage to their property, or other damage or loss to such other persons resulting from or arising out of:
  
  (1) (A) any business (whether profit or nonprofit), trade, product, services (including professional services), premises, or operations; or
  
  (B) any activity of any state or local government, or any agency or political subdivision thereof; and
  
  (2) does not include personal risk liability and an employer's liability with respect to its employees other than legal liability under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (45 U. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• member: shall include each person who during the qualifying period was in the employment of a public employer which then participated for such employees in a public retirement system in this state, irrespective of whether the person was a participant in such system at that time, provided that the person has become a participant in such retirement system and has purchased service credit for a period of time that includes some or all of the qualifying period in accordance with provisions of law applicable to such purchase of service credit. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 2
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Municipal bonds: means municipal obligation bonds and special revenue bonds. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Nonprofit organizations: means organizations described in paragraph (3) of subsection (c), and exempt from taxation under subsection (a), of section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code, including, if qualified thereunder, type B or D organizations formed pursuant to paragraph (b) of section two hundred one of the not-for-profit corporation law, and organizations described in § 216-a of the education law. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6702
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal risk liability: means liability for damages because of injury to any person, damage to property, or other loss or damage resulting from any personal, familial, or household responsibilities or activities, rather than from responsibilities or activities referred to in subsection (h) of this section. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Plan of operation or feasibility study: means an analysis which presents the expected activities and results of a risk retention group making application to become chartered and licensed as a domestic property/casualty insurer in this state, including at least the following:
  
  (1) information sufficient to verify that its members are engaged in businesses or activities similar or related with respect to the liability to which such members are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or common business, trade, product, services, premises or operations;
  
  (2) for each state in which it intends to operate, the coverages, deductibles, coverage limits, rates, and rating classification systems for each kind of insurance the group intends to offer;
  
  (3) historical and expected loss experience of the proposed members and national experience of similar exposures to the extent that this experience is reasonably available;
  
  (4) pro forma financial statements and projections;
  
  (5) appropriate opinions by a qualified, independent casualty actuary, including a determination of minimum premium or participation levels required to commence operations and to prevent the development of a hazardous financial condition;
  
  (6) identification of management, underwriting and claims procedures, marketing methods, managerial oversight methods, investment policies and reinsurance agreements;
  
  (7) identification of each state in which the risk retention group has obtained, or sought to obtain, a charter and license, and a description of its status in each state; and
  
  (8) such other matters as may be prescribed by the commissioner of the state in which the risk retention group is chartered for liability insurance companies authorized by the insurance laws of the state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• Product liability: means liability for damages because of any personal injury, death, emotional harm, consequential economic damage, or property damage (including damages resulting from the loss of use of property) arising out of the manufacture, design, importation, distribution, packaging, labeling, lease, or sale of a product, but does not include the liability of any person for those damages if the product involved was in the possession of such a person when the incident giving rise to the claim occurred. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Purchasing group: means any group formed pursuant to the federal liability risk retention act of 1986 which:
  
  (1) has as one of its purposes the purchase of liability insurance on a group basis;
  
  (2) purchases such insurance only for its group members and only to cover their similar or related liability exposure, as described in paragraph three of this subsection;
  
  (3) is composed of members whose businesses or activities are similar or related with respect to the liability to which members are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or common business, trade, product, services, premises, or operations; and
  
  (4) is domiciled in any state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Qualifying condition or impairment of health: shall mean a qualifying physical condition, or a qualifying psychological condition, or both, except that for any member identified in paragraph (vi) of paragraph (e) of this subdivision, it shall only mean a qualifying psychological condition. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 2
• Qualifying period: shall mean : (i) any period of time within the forty-eight hours after the first airplane hit the towers, for any member identified in paragraphs (i) through (v) of paragraph (e) of this subdivision; (ii) a total of forty hours accumulated any time between September eleventh, two thousand one and September twelfth, two thousand two, for any member identified in subparagraphs (i) through (v) of paragraph (e) of this subdivision; or (iii) any period of time within the twenty-four hours after the first airplane hit the towers, for any member identified in subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (e) of this subdivision. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 2
• Qualifying physical condition: shall mean one or more of the following: (i) diseases of the upper respiratory tract and mucosae, including conditions such as rhinitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, vocal cord disease, and upper airway hyper-reactivity, or a combination of such conditions; (ii) diseases of the lower respiratory tract, including but not limited to tracheo-bronchitis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, reactive airway dysfunction syndrome, and different types of pneumonitis, such as hypersensitivity, granulomatous, or eosinophilic; (iii) diseases of the gastroesophageal tract, including esophagitis and reflux disease, either acute or chronic, caused by exposure or aggravated by exposure; (iv) diseases of the skin such as conjunctivitis, contact dermatitis or burns, either acute or chronic in nature, infectious, irritant, allergic, idiopathic or non-specific reactive in nature, caused by exposure or aggravated by exposure; or (v) new onset diseases resulting from exposure as such diseases occur in the future including cancer, asbestos-related disease, heavy metal poisoning, and musculoskeletal disease. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 2
• Qualifying psychological condition: shall mean one or more of the following: (i) diseases of the psychological axis, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or any combination of such conditions; or (ii) new onset diseases resulting from exposure as such diseases occur in the future including chronic psychological disease. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reinsurance: means cessions qualifying for credit under section six thousand nine hundred six of this article. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Risk retention group: means any corporation or other limited liability association formed pursuant to the federal liability risk retention act of 1986:
  
  (1) whose primary activity consists of assuming and spreading all, or any portion, of the liability exposure of its group members;
  
  (2) which is organized for the primary purpose of conducting the activity described under paragraph one of this subsection;
  
  (3) which:
  
  (A) is chartered and licensed as a liability insurance company and authorized to engage in the business of insurance under the laws of any state; or
  
  (B) before January first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, was chartered or licensed and authorized to engage in the business of insurance under the laws of Bermuda or the Cayman Islands and, before such date, had certified to the insurance commissioner of at least one state that it satisfied the capitalization requirements of such state, except that any such group shall be considered to be a risk retention group only if it has been engaged in business continuously since such date and only for the purpose of continuing to provide insurance to cover product liability or completed operations liability;
  
  (4) which does not exclude any person from membership in the group solely to provide for members of such a group a competitive advantage over such a person;
  
  (5) which:
  
  (A) has as its owners only persons who comprise the membership of the risk retention group and who are provided insurance by such group; or
  
  (B) has as its sole owner an organization which has as its members only persons who comprise the membership of the risk retention group and which organization has as its owners only persons who comprise the membership of the risk retention group and who are provided insurance by the risk retention group;
  
  (6) whose members are engaged in businesses or activities similar or related with respect to the liability of which such members are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or common business trade, product, services, premises or operations;
  
  (7) whose activities do not include the provision of insurance other than:
  
  (A) liability insurance for assuming and spreading all or any portion of the liability of its group members; and
  
  (B) reinsurance with respect to the liability of any other risk retention group (or any member of such other risk retention group) which is engaged in businesses or activities which meet the requirement described in paragraph six of this subsection for membership in the risk retention group which provides such reinsurance; and
  
  (8) the name of which includes the phrase "risk retention group". See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means any state of the United States or the District of Columbia. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superintendent: means the superintendent of financial services of this state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Utility first mortgage obligation: means any obligation of an issuer secured by a first priority mortgage on utility property owned by or leased to an investor-owned or cooperative-owned utility company and located in the United States, Canada or a member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development having a sovereign rating in one of the top two generic lettered rating classifications by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization acceptable to the superintendent; provided that the utility or utility property or the usage fees or other similar utility rates or charges are subject to regulation or oversight by a governmental unit. See N.Y. Insurance Law 6901
• World Trade Center site: shall mean anywhere below a line starting from the Hudson River and Canal Street; east on Canal Street to Pike Street; south on Pike Street to the East River; and extending to the lower tip of Manhattan. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 2