Exceptions from operation of article

(A) This article does not apply to any reinsurance, group annuity purchased under a retirement plan or plan of deferred compensation established or maintained by an employer including a partnership or sole proprietorship or by an employee organization, or by both, other than a plan providing individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities under Section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code, premium deposit fund, variable annuity, investment annuity, immediate annuity, any deferred annuity contract after annuity payments have commenced, or reversionary annuity, or to any contract which is delivered outside this State through an agent or other representative of the company issuing the contract. (B) Sections 38-69-230 through 38-69-280 do not apply to contingent deferred annuities. Notwithstanding this exemption, the department may establish by order or regulation nonforfeiture benefits for contingent deferred annuities that are, in the opinion of the director, equitable to the contract holder, appropriate given the risks insured, and to the extent possible, consistent with general intent of this article.