Summary
This article on a potential new Federal Insurance Office lays out the positions of both sides of the issue and gives the impression that some form of new federal oversight of the P&C insurance industry will occur. As explained in my GLG News article of October 12, 2009 this development could impact Verisk Analytics (VRSK), Inc.
Analysis
This article expands on my GLG News article of October 12, 2009 on federal chartering. It demonstrates the conflicting forces in the P&C insurance industry that have thus far kept federal chartering at bay. (Federal chartering is the ability of insurers to elect to be regulated by the Federal government rather than the states.)
In this latest article from Business Insurance, we learn that the Obama administration wants to establish an Office of National Insurance within the Treasury Dept. We also learn that the Washington-based American Insurance Assn. (AIA) and the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS) support the new legislation, while Property Casualty Insurers Assn. of America and National Assn. of Mutual Insurance Cos. oppose it. It appears that some form of new federal oversight of the P&C insurance industry will be established, and the unknown is how far it will go and whether it will preempt state regulatory authority.
My October 12 article explains the risks that federal chartering presents to Verisk Analytics (VRSK), Inc.
This author consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
