NU Online News Service, June 23, 12:41 p.m.EST

WASHINGTON—The White House is conducting background checks onformer Kentucky insurance commissioner S. Roy Woodall, reportssay.

The action could be a sign that the Obamaadministration is moving to fill the slot on theFinancial Stability Oversight Council reserved for an independentmember with insurance expertise.

Woodall was a Treasury Department consultant until January.

Under the Dodd-Frank financial services reform law, the post issubject to Senate confirmation.

"We've heard these rumors before but no one knows when theofficial nomination is going to happen," cautions Blain Rethmeier,a spokesman for the American Insurance Association.

He says, "It's important that the industry be adequatelyrepresented on the FSOC and this voting member is a criticalposition."

Woodall has been president of the National Association of LifeCompanies. He also worked on state issues at the American Councilof Life Insurers, and worked under contract as a consultant to theTreasury Department on insurance issues for the Bush and Clintonadministrations.

Woodall also worked for a Washington, D.C. law firm and for theCongressional Research Service as one of its insurance experts.