U.S. House Insurance Subcommittee Examines Federal Government’s Insurance Industry Role

The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services’ Housing and Insurance Subcommittee held a hearing entitled “The Federal Government’s Role in the Insurance Industry” yesterday, October 24, 2017.   The hearing examined both the domestic and international roles of the Federal Insurance Office (“FIO”), and Congressional oversight of international insurance issues.

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade testified on behalf of the representing the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”).

“We are committed to working with our federal colleagues, the Federal Reserve and the United States Treasury Department’s Federal Insurance Office to ensure U.S. interests are appropriately represented,” said Commissioner Wade, who chairs the International Insurance Relations Committee at the NAIC.  “However, it is important to understand their authorities in the insurance sector are more limited than those of the states, which are the primary regulators of the insurance sector.”

Commissioner Wade expressed the NAIC’s support for two legislative proposals:  The International Insurance Standards Act (H.R. 3762) and The Federal Insurance Office Reform Act (H.R. 3861).

“The NAIC strongly supports these legislative proposals,” she said.  “They encourage cooperation, clarify the respective roles of FIO, the Federal Reserve, and state insurance regulators, and promote oversight, transparency and inclusion. These improvements will solidify and clarify relationships at home while advancing the interests of the United States in defending our regulatory system, our companies and our citizens abroad.”

The witnesses and their respective written testimonies are provided below via hyperlink:

• Mr. Paul Ehlert, President of Germania Insurance and Chairman of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
• Professor Daniel Schwarcz, Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
• Mr. Rick Means, President and Chief Executive Officer, Shelter Insurance Companies
• Ms. Katharine Wade, Commissioner, Connecticut Insurance Department, on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners

Click here to read the Subcommittee Memorandum.

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