The transfer deal with annuities provider Athene Holdings will ensure that about 30,000 participants in JCPenney's pension plan continue to get benefits.
The $3.5 billion deal came a day after Allstate said it would sell its life insurance business to private-equity giant Blackstone for $2.8 billion.
The SEC says the insurer failed to maintain a sufficient system of internal controls, resulting in an improper release of annuity reserves.
Not only is it expensive to buy annuities to fund existing retiree benefits, but financial statement issues also may stymie plan terminations.
The insurer says it underestimated its group annuity reserves because of "a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting.”
The insurer says an internal review determined it had incorrectly stated its combined risk-based capital ratio.
