Insurance troubles could make companies liable for pensions.

WASHINGTON - The regulatory and legislative fallouts from the financial troubles at Executive Life, seized by California regulators in April, and Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co. in New Jersey appear to be heading toward new and more stringent rules governing purchases made by pension funds for annuities and guaranteed investment contracts from insurance companies and other financial brokers. New federal regulations could mean higher costs, as well as a fundamental reevaluation of a pension fund's fiduciary responsibility to plan participants, according to pension policy experts.

The U. S. Labor Department and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporations (PBGC) already have filed …