Publishing Guidelines

CCA Perspective on Papers and Public Statements

This document describes the guidelines and procedures that apply to the following types of papers and public statements:

• Papers and public statements issued by the CCA
• Papers and public statements issued by a CCA Community with appropriate disclaimer
• Papers and public statements issued by individual CCA members that are published by the CCA with appropriate disclaimer

This policy is included in the Leadership Manual distributed to all CCA leadership, chairs, liaisons and representatives.

Process for Papers and Public Statements Issued by the CCA

1. Situations where the CCA should express a view on an important issue can be identified by a CCA committee, community, task force, the Board of Directors (Board) or the Executive Committee (EC), or by an individual CCA member. If the group or person identifying the issue wishes for the CCA to consider issuing a paper or public statement, (not to be confused with a paper or public statement from a community or individual member that has appropriate disclaimer) the issue should be summarized in writing to the EC and include a recommended CCA position.
2. The EC will determine, by simple majority vote, if the issue should be brought to the attention of the Board. If so, the EC will forward the issue to the Board with recommendations on how to proceed.
3. All decisions and approvals of the Board called for in this document require the affirmative vote of a 2/3 majority of the entire Board.
4. If the document being prepared is a comment letter on a proposed Actuarial Standard of Practice, government regulation, or any similar guidance, the parties drafting the document must solicit opinions and viewpoints from the relevant CCA communities.
5. If approved as presented by 2/3 majority vote of the entire Board, the Board will forward the issue to the appropriate party with instructions as to how to proceed.
6. With respect to papers and public statements issued by a CCA committee, in its sole discretion and on a case-by-case basis, the Board may delegate approval authority to the EC, a subset of Board members, or any other group of CCA members it deems appropriate.
7. If not approved by the Board as presented, the Board will inform the party that submitted the proposal the reason(s) for not approving it and indicate (1) if it has been decided not to pursue the issue further (2) if additional information is needed to determine whether the issue should be pursued (3) if a revised course of action is proposed, which may include a different paper or public statement with respect to the issue. If more information was requested or if a revised course of action is proposed, the process indicated in 1-4 above may be repeated until the proposal has 2/3 majority vote by the entire Board or is dropped.
8. Before issuing any paper or public statement, the Board will determine whether a legal review is necessary or appropriate. If so, the CCA will retain outside legal counsel. The results of such legal review must be presented to the Board.

Process for Papers and Public Statements Issued by a CCA Community with Appropriate Disclaimer

1. There may be situations where it is appropriate for a CCA community to issue a paper or public statement on a matter that they have interest. Because such papers or statements could be construed as being made on behalf of the CCA, they must contain an appropriate attribution and disclaimer statement and shall be subject to review and approval by the Board. 
2. In evaluating whether to approve a paper or public statement issued by a CCA community, the Board will consider the following guiding principles:
   • Relevance to actuarial work associated with the scope of the community
   • Consideration given to the perspectives of all stakeholders in the actuarial work
   • Representation of a prevailing view among members of the community
3. The preparation of a paper or public statement by a CCA community shall consist of the following steps:
   • Any subset of the community may draft a proposed paper or statement after receiving approval from the community steering committee.
   • A paper or statement must be issued as an exposure draft to the members of the community and the Board of Directors with adequate time to review the exposure draft and submit comments.
   • Comments on the exposure draft must be considered by the drafting group and appropriate changes made to reflect the prevailing opinion of the community.
   • A final paper or statement must be approved by a majority vote of the steering committee of the sponsoring community.
   • The comments on the exposure draft must be provided to the Board.
4. In reviewing a proposed paper or public statement issued by a CCA community the Board will consider adherence to both the guiding principles in paragraph 2 above and process steps in paragraph 3 above. A simple majority vote of the Board is needed for the communication to go forward. In its sole discretion and on a case-by-case basis the Board may delegate approval authority to the EC, a subset of Board members or any other group of CCA members it deems appropriate.
5. The attribution and disclaimer statement must state who the paper or public statement is coming from and that it is not endorsed by the CCA, its members or the employers of CCA members and should not be construed in any way as being endorsed by any of these aforementioned parties.)

Process for Papers and Public Statements Issued by Individual CCA Members that are Published by the CCA with Appropriate Disclaimer

1. In the interest of facilitating dialogue among CCA members and contributing to the broader discourse of public policy issues, individual CCA members may write papers or public statements that will be published by the CCA.
2. Papers or statements issued by individual CCA members that are published by the CCA must either: 

   a) pertain to actuarial work, 

   b) be relevant to the actuarial profession, or 

   c) address concepts related to actuarial topics.

   Such papers or statements must also be original and come from CCA members and may not be full or partial redistributions of documents attributable to organizations such as companies, governments or think tanks.

3. Papers or statements produced under this process may include non-actuary co-authors who are not CCA members, but all credentialed actuaries who are listed as co-authors must be members of the CCA.
   
4. Papers or statements issued by individual CCA members that are published by the CCA must be reviewed and approved by the communications committee. To evaluate the relevance and accuracy of a proposed paper or statement, the communications committee may seek input and technical expertise from the relevant CCA community steering committees. Any authors and co-authors of a paper or public statement should not be involved in the review that statement.
5. Any paper or public statement that is published by the CCA should maintain a professional tone, be editorially and grammatically sound and not put the CCA's reputation at risk. 
6. The attribution and disclaimer statement must state who the paper or public statement is coming from and that it is not endorsed by the CCA, its members (aside from the listed authors), or the employers of CCA members, and should not be construed in any way as being endorsed by any of these parties.