Insurer Governance Tops NCOIL Agenda

NU Online News Service, July 12, 1:15 p.m.EDT?A national state legislators group said revelationsabout corporate misdeeds is spurring the group to focus on insurersgovernance and accountability when it meets Friday inChicago.[@@]

The National Council of Insurance Legislators said asubcommittee will begin investigating the appropriate role of thestates regarding insurer corporate governance and accountabilityissues.

"Recent corporate scandals have alarmed state legislators. Weneed to ensure that there are no gaps between state and federalcorporate governance and accountability statutes and regulations,"said Kentucky State Rep. Bob Damron, D- Nicholasville.

Mr. Damron, chairman of the NCOIL Financial ServicesSubcommittee, said governance and accountability will lead theagenda when the panel meets in the Hotel Inter-Continental,Chicago, at 11:15 a.m., as part of the NCOIL Summer Meeting.

Rep. Damron said the subcommittee will focus especially on theappropriate state-level corporate governance oversight of insurancecompanies not under the regulatory purview of the Securities andExchange Commission, particularly mutual, nonprofit or closely heldinsurers.

NCOIL noted that the failure of financial services regulators touncover in a timely manner problems in such high profile cases asEnron and WorldCom prompted Congress to enact a tough new law in2002 to increase corporate policing.

The consumer protection measures in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of2002, which increases the required accuracy and reliability ofcorporate disclosures made to regulators, only applies to companiesrequired to make filings to the SEC, noted NCOIL.

The group's Summer Meeting will run from July 15 through July18.

NCOIL is an organization of state legislators interested ininsurance legislation and regulation. Many legislators active inNCOIL either chair or are members of the committees responsible forinsurance legislation in their respective state houses across thecountry.