Federal legislation mandating uniform rules for surplus lines carriers and brokers was heartily endorsed last week by industry witnesses testifying at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the bill, in which state regulators did not participate.

Even more troubling for supporters of state regulation, several committee members used the hearing as a platform to propose further steps that Congress could take to preempt state regulation, including creating an optional federal charter for insurers.

Another proposal was that the committee should reexamine whether the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers national licensing initiative first used in the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act should be retooled to force more states into the fold–especially the larger ones still opting out–as well as to ensure continued state compliance.

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