The Hartford 2015 Annual Report Download - page 13

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In addition, other subsidiaries of the Company sold and distributed 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. 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 Hartford operates in limited foreign jurisdictions. The extent of financial services 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 financial services providers extensively. Foreign financial services providers in certain countries are faced with greater
restrictions than domestic competitors domiciled in that particular jurisdiction.
In addition, as described under “Legislative Developments,” we are subject to a number of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “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 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 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. In addition, we own a number
of patents and patent applications relating to on-line quoting, insurance related processing, insurance telematics, proprietary interface
platforms, and other matters, some of which may be important to our business operations. Patents are of varying duration depending on
filing date, and will typically expire at the end of their natural term.
Employees
The Hartford has approximately 17,400 employees as of December 31, 2015.
Available Information
The Company’s Internet address is www.thehartford.com. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current
reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are available, without charge, on the investor relations section of our website,
http://ir.thehartford.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed electronically with the SEC. Reports filed with the SEC
may be viewed at www.sec.gov or obtained at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington D.C. Information
regarding the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. References in this report
to our website address are provided only as a convenience and do not constitute, and should not be viewed as, an incorporation by
reference of the information contained on, or available through, the website. Therefore, such information should not be considered part
of this report.