Michael McRaith, director of the Federal Insurance Office in theTreasury Department, has been named to head the Technical Committeeof the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS),the group's influential policy-developing body.

His election took place at a meeting in Singapore last week.

He succeeds Swiss citizen Monica Mächler, who retired.

Amongst other candidates for the post was Kevin McCarty, Floridainsurance commissioner and president of the NAIC.

In response, McCarty said, “I congratulate Director McRaith onhis appointment as the IAIS Technical Committee chair and I lookforward to continuing the work FIO and the NAIC have been doing onthis committee as well as the other areas where our regulatoryboundaries may cross.”

Industry officials say one reason McRaith was selected is thatthe international players are striving for transparency.

Although U.S. insurance-industry officials have expressed concerns about the scope of global regulatorystandards being developed by IAIS, one bright spot in the globaltalks is that there is some momentum in EU-U.S. dialogue regardingequivalency between the two regulatory systems.

McRaith helped set this positive dialogue in motion, accordingto officials at the Property Casualty Insurers Association ofAmerica.

In a conference call yesterday, PCI officials expressed concernsabout the direction of discussions on global-regulatorystandards. “What's troubling in recent years is globalstandards that are set by unelected, unaccountable bodies,” saidDavid Sampson, president and CEO of PCI.

Robert Gordon, senior vice president, policy development &research, for PCI said state-insurance regulation “will be graded”on compliance with new, global standards starting in 2014, and headded, “We don't want the U.S. to get outfoxed in thesediscussions so insurers end up with global, bank-centricrules.”