Why Insurance Pros Actually Need Training on the NAIC Model Audit Rule (MAR)

The NAIC Model Audit Rule (MAR) isn’t optional busywork — it’s a serious compliance requirement that forces insurance companies to build real risk assessments, create internal controls, strengthen governance, and actually stand behind the accuracy of their annual financial reports.

MAR (technically Model Regulation #205) was created by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to give state regulators a way to hold insurers accountable for financial condition and reporting integrity. It borrows heavily from Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) principles but is tailored to the insurance sector’s specific risks and state-based regulatory environment.

What Compliance Really Means (and What Will Bite You If You Ignore It)

Let’s cut the fluff. MAR compliance isn’t just paperwork:

• Robust internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) — you must design, implement, test, and report on them like a regulator is watching (because they are).

• Annual independent CPA audits plus governance oversight — including audit committee responsibilities that you can’t outsource or ignore.

• Management’s ICFR report for larger insurers — with unremediated material weaknesses spelled out and explained.

• Create and maintain a comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management program.

  
  

Fail to understand how to operationalize these together — and you’re effectively flying blind. That’s the exact gap compliance training fills.

Real Problems Professionals Face Without Solid MAR Know-How

Every insurer’s compliance team has seen these issues:

1. Control frameworks exist in theory but not in practice. People say they use COSO or COBIT, but there’s no repeatable, testable structure.

2. Too many organizations treat MAR like a checkbox. That results in auditors flagging problems — and state regulators knocking at your door.

3. Audit committee roles get misunderstood. Independence requirements and oversight duties matter — and they matter nowhere near enough until it’s an exam finding.

   
   

Training focused on compliance closes the gap between “we think we’re compliant” and “we can prove we’re compliant.”

What to Expect from the Managing NAIC Model Audit Rule Programs Training

Here’s what separates this course from a random webinar:

Practical, not theoretical. You get real tools and methods — not just slides. Participants learn how to:

• Break down MAR requirements in plain language and apply them in an annual ICFR environment and over the continuous ERM program.

• Identify and assess key risks to internal controls over financial reporting and ERM.

• Build, monitor, and report on controls that actually address both those sets of risks.

• Communicate findings clearly to management and governance.

This course mixes frameworks (like COSO 2013) with real-world case scenarios, not just bullet points.

CPE you can use. Two days of in-person training earn 16 NASBA-approved CPE credits — and every hour is geared toward doing compliance work better, not just hearing about it.

Who Actually Benefits From This Training

This isn’t beginner fluff for random staff. The professionals who walk away better prepared include:

• Senior internal auditors

• Compliance officers

• Finance leaders tasked with ICFR

• Risk managers

• Audit committee members who need to understand their duties, not just sign forms

If you’re responsible for MAR compliance outcomes — this course turns abstract obligations into executable plans.

Bottom Line

MAR compliance isn’t going away — state regulators are tightening expectations, examiners are pushing back on weak control environments, and insurers without solid compliance skills are being exposed.

Training like Managing NAIC Model Audit Rule Programs doesn’t just check a CPE box — it equips you with the technical competence to build internal control systems that pass scrutiny, survive audits, and protect your organization from regulatory headaches.