If one person offers investment advice and buys and sells securities for others, the regulation on that person should not be different depending on whether that person is employed by a bank, a stock brokerage firm, an insurance company or is a self-employed registered investment adviser.

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But, as Greenblatt told CNBC last year, by buying a basket of them, you diversify away the stock-specific risk much like an insurance company does with its clients.

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The ban applies to any stock of a company that has an affiliated bank, thrift, insurance, broker or investment adviser.

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Another insurance mutual, Alte Leipziger, has organised a joint-stock holding company which, executives say, may eventually be listed on the stock exchange.

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Sony recently established an online stock trading company and also owns Sony Financial International which issues credit cards and insurance.

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"We'd always dreamed of being stock contractors, " says Michelle Simpson, a 48-year-old insurance-company analyst from Grantville, Kan.

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Mr. Thompson will be eligible to participate in the benefit programs generally available to senior executives of the Company, including health insurance, life and disability insurance, the Employee Stock Purchase Plan, 401(k) plan, and a Flexible Spending Plan.

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These included personal net worth, cash flow and stock option statements, back federal tax returns, W-2s, a company benefits package, various insurance binders, brokerage and 401(k) statements, pension calculations and wills.

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"It can be said that, gee, if a plane crashes and that plane had to carry 10 percent more cargo because a company was increasing their stock to avoid a potential year-2000 crisis, (the insurance companies) can say that was a factor in the crash" and therefore refuse to pay.

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