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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NAIC
RESPONSE TO TREASURY REPORT ORLANDO, Fla. (March 31, 2008) — National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) President and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger today issued the following statement in regard to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Blueprint for Financial Regulatory Reform: “State regulators are glad that someone at the federal level is finally paying attention to the financial crisis facing our nation. In our comments to the Treasury as this report was being developed, we noted that better coordination and communication among federal and state regulators is essential to effective oversight of the financial services sector. However, any change should not put the needs and convenience of Wall Street ahead of the cares and concerns of Main Street. “Clearly, the current climate of less regulation and less accountability has led to the turmoil affecting broad sectors of our nation’s economy. We agree that federal action to look at system risk is long overdue. We agree that the federal government needs to remodel their financial regulatory house, but they need to leave the insurance “room” alone! “While we certainly support better coordinating and modernizing of their oversight efforts, “Modern” does not mean “Federal.” State insurance regulators are marginalized in this report and, frankly, for our sector it looks more like a solution in search of a problem. “State insurance regulators are accused of inefficiencies in oversight, but we need look no farther than Hurricane Katrina to see how well federal solutions serve the nation. “State regulators challenge the proponents of a federal solution to trace the origins of the current problems in the housing and bond insurance markets … and they will find that the true failures lie with a lack of coordinated federal oversight. “This voluminous plan only seems to offer more preemption of state
oversight, not less. Not only does the plan not address the roots of the
problem, but the proposed “solution” is needlessly complex. While we
welcome a review of the federal failures, we strongly caution against
federal intervention in a state-based system that is working for consumers
and industry alike.”
About the NAIC Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. The NAIC’s overriding objective is to assist state insurance regulators in protecting consumers and helping maintain the financial stability of the insurance industry by offering financial, actuarial, legal, computer, research, market conduct and economic expertise. Formed in 1871, the NAIC is the oldest association of state officials. For more than 135 years, state-based insurance supervision has served the needs of consumers, industry and the business of insurance at-large by ensuring hands-on, frontline protection for consumers, while providing insurers the uniform platforms and coordinated systems they need to compete effectively in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit NAIC at www.naic.org/press_home.htm.
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©2008 National Association of Insurance Commissioners. All rights reserved. | ||
