The confirmation of Jacob Lew as secretary of the Treasury lateWednesday clears the way for action on several insurance-relatedissues, including the release of a long-delayed report oninsurance-regulation modernization.

Indeed, at a hearing Wednesday, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., vicechairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told FederalReserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke that, “There's a tremendousamount of havoc in that [insurance] industry today because of whatthey don't know [about federal regulatory initiatives].”

Miller was referring to capital standards for insurers thatoperate thrifts as well as action by the Financial StabilityOversight Council on designating non-banks as systemicallyimportant financial institutions (SIFIs).

Bernanke told Miller that the Fed understands that insurancecompanies are different from banks, but that it is constrained asto how it can regulate them differently by provisions of theDodd-Frank law that mandated that the Fed oversee nonbank SIFIs andthrift holding companies as well as pure banks.

He also said that the Fed was considering conducting a study ofthe potential quantitative impact of new capital rules on insurancecompanies before it finalizes them, but has made no finaldecision.

“We are discussing the feasibility of such a study and werecognize that there are important differences between banks andinsurance companies,” Bernanke told Miller.

“At the same time, of course, we have statutory constraints, theCollins amendment for example, that say that a certain amount ofcapital is necessary,” Bernanke said.

But, he added, “we have also heard from Congress about thisinsurance/banking distinction and we're looking at it veryseriously.”

Bernanke also disclosed that the Fed has been “consulting” withstate insurance regulators, with the Federal Insurance Office(FIO), with the industry, “with a lot of other stakeholders to makesure we understand these issues.”

Lew is chairman of the FSOC. And, the Fed would oversee“significantly important financial institutions (SIFIs) and now hasauthority to oversee insurers who operate thrifts.

AIG and Prudential Insurance Co. of America haveconfirmed that they have been notified that they could potentiallybe designated as a non-bank SIFI, but those firms are still in aholding pattern, waiting for a finaldetermination. MetLife likewise could be considered fornon-bank SIFI designation, but to date has not received any formalnotification that a designation may be in the works. A TreasuryDepartment spokesman declined comment. “I would refer you to ourlanguage in the interpretive guidance,” the spokesman said.

“The FSOC does not intend to publicly announce the name of anynonbank financial company that is under evaluation before a finaldetermination with respect to such company,” the spokesmansaid.

Lew, 57, was confirmed by the Senate, 71-26. He is scheduled tobe sworn in as Treasury secretary at 12:30 p.m. at the White Houseby Vice President Joe Biden, according to a statement from theWhite House.

Lew will immediately return to the Treasury Department from theWhite House to chair that meeting.

As for the report on insurance regulation, mandated under theDodd-Frank Financial Services Modernization Act, the FIO, an agencywithin Treasury, was supposed to release it last January.

Industry officials surmised it was delayed in part because theWhite House and Treasury officials wanted a new Treasury secretaryto sign off on it before it was released. Treasury officials havedeclined comment.

Lew would succeed Timothy Geithner, who announced last year thathe would not serve as Treasury secretary during President Obama'ssecond term. Geithner now serves as a senior fellow at the Councilon Foreign Relations in New York.

Lew brings different skills to the job than Geithner. Lew is abudget expert, and has served as budget director for both Obama andPresident Bill Clinton.

Geithner served as president of the New York Federal ReserveBank before being named Treasury secretary in January 2009.

Corrected to show that MetLife had not received a formalnotification regarding a possible SIFI designation.