The Hartford 2011 Annual Report Download - page 13

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Certain of the Company’ s life insurance subsidiaries sell variable life insurance, variable annuity, and some fixed guaranteed products
that are “securities” registered with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Some of the products have separate accounts
that are registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and/or are
regulated by state law. Separate account investment products are also subject to state insurance regulation. Moreover, each separate
account is generally divided into sub-accounts, each of which invests in an underlying mutual fund that is also registered as an
investment company under the 1940 Act (“Underlying Funds”). The Company offers these Underlying Funds and retail mutual funds
that are registered with and regulated by the SEC.
In addition, other subsidiaries of the Company are involved in the offering, selling and distribution of the Company’ s variable insurance
products, Underlying Funds and retail mutual funds as broker dealers and are subject to regulation promulgated and enforced by the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), the SEC and/or in, some instances, state securities administrators. Other entities
operate as investment advisers registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and are registered as investment
advisers under certain state laws, as applicable. One subsidiary is an investment company registered under the 1940 Act. Because
federal and state laws and regulations are primarily intended to protect investors in securities markets, they generally grant regulators
broad rulemaking and enforcement authority. Some of these regulations include, among other things, regulations impacting sales
methods, trading practices, suitability of investments, use and safekeeping of customers’ funds, corporate governance, capital, record
keeping, and reporting requirements.
The extent of insurance regulation on business outside the United States varies significantly among the countries in which The Hartford
operates. Some countries have minimal regulatory requirements, while others regulate insurers extensively. Foreign insurers in certain
countries are faced with greater restrictions than domestic competitors domiciled in that particular jurisdiction. The Hartford’ s
international operations are comprised of insurers licensed in their respective countries.
In addition, as described under “Legislative Developments,” we are subject to a number of Dodd-Frank Act provisions. Failure to
comply with federal and state laws and regulations may result in censure, fines, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or suspension,
termination or limitation of the activities of our operations and/or our employees. We cannot predict the impact of these actions on our
businesses, results of operations or financial condition.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of contractual rights and copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish and protect our
intellectual property.
We have a worldwide trademark portfolio that we consider important in the marketing of our products and services, including, among
others, the trademarks of The Hartford name, the Stag Logo and the combination of these two marks. The duration of trademark
registrations varies from country to country and may be renewed indefinitely subject to country-specific use and registration
requirements. We regard our trademarks as extremely valuable assets in marketing our products and services and vigorously seek to
protect them against infringement.
Employees
The Hartford has approximately 24,400 employees as of December 31, 2011.
Available Information
The Hartford makes available, free of charge, on or through its Internet website (http://www.thehartford.com) The Hartford’ s annual
report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished
pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after The Hartford electronically files such material
with, or furnishes it to, the SEC. None of the information made available on The Hartford’ s Internet website shall be deemed to be
incorporated by reference herein. Information filed or furnished to the SEC may be read and copied at the SEC's Public Reference
Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549 or by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains an Internet
website (http://sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file
electronically with the SEC.