GOVERNMENT: Study on future of insurance regulation due

The new Federal Insurance Office (FIO) (has been seeking comments on how insurance should be regulated in the future, and two viewpoints are clearly emerging.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is among those saying the current state regulatory system is working.
“Property and casualty insurance proved to be among the best regulated financial-services sectors throughout the financial crisis,” Jimi Grande of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies said.
But the Risk and Insurance Management Society told the FIO that more federal oversight is needed because state regulation allows insurers to stray from or misinterpret national standards.
And the Financial Services Roundtable says the majority of its members “believe that the FIO must be a lead voice, not only in vetting options, but ensuring that a new era of insurance regulation does not come with duplicative or layered regulatory requirements.”
In letters to the FIO, both Liberty Mutual and the Property Casualty Insurers Association say federal involvement is needed to combat increasingly tough requirements by European governments for financial firms doing business internationally.
The FIO is mandated to present to Congress by January 21st a study on how insurance regulation should be modernized.