Missouri Regulators Battle Over VAs.(variable annuities)

The Missouri Department of Insurance and Missouri Secretary of State's Division of Securities are butting heads over the regulation of variable annuities.

The jurisdictional battle, which could be a harbinger of things to come, centers on an alleged variable annuity product switching scheme by Waddell & Reed, Overland, Kan.

The dispute, which kicked off in March, was pending in Cole County Circuit Court, Jefferson City, Mo. at this writing. A June 30 court continuance was set after Waddell & Reed already had been fined by NASD over the same switching incident.

"I don't think this happens very often," said Mike DeGeorge, chief counsel for the National Association for Variable Annuities, Reston, Va., of the …