Federal Charter BackersRisk Unintended Consequences

Let the lobbying battle begin!

It's official. The American Council of Life Insurers has decided to formally pursue optional federal chartering for life carriers and agents who do business with them. Like it or not, the property-casualty industry, while not specifically cited in the ACLI's proposal, will have to deal with the consequences.

Whether p-c insurers and agents support or oppose ACLI's initiative, no one in the industry can ignore it. You just know that if Congress decides to consider federal chartering, there's no way the p-c industry will be left out.

ACLI's position is not without merit. Life insurers are understandably impatient as they watch federally regulated banks and securities firms bring products to market in 30-to-90 days, rather than the six-to-18 month wait they must too often endure under state regulation.

In addition, ACLI is not without its supporters on the p-c side. Indeed, the American Insurance Association called the ACLI decision “a positive development.”

But while the advocates of dual chartering argue that a competitive regulatory system would prevent either state or federal regulation from becoming overly burdensome, the reality might be quite different. Once Congress sinks its teeth into this issue, it has the authority to impose all sorts of new regulatory mandates on all insurers, whether state or federally chartered.

Robert Rusbuldt, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of America, warned about this risk when he said, “anyone following the federal insurance terrorism issue should realize that the legislative process rarely goes the way you want it to go. Anyone who thinks we will get a clean federal chartering bill is dreaming.”

For instance, insurers so eager to be regulated like banks could find themselves subjected to the same Community Reinvestment Act requirements imposed on bankers. Housing advocates are eager to expand CRA to insurance, and have already called on Congress to include such mandates in the federal terrorism reinsurance bill now under debate.

This could mean insurers might have to publicly disclose information on the race, gender and income of all policy applicants, as well as report why applicants were rejected, all at the census-tract level. What's more, insurers of all stripes might be subjected to Federal Trade Commission oversight and federal consumer protection laws, as well as new federal taxes.

We doubt that federal chartering advocates would back the imposition of these unwanted and unnecessary federal regulatory burdens, but once the debate begins, there's no telling what course the legislation would take.

ACLI says it still supports state regulation, and will continue working in the meantime with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to improve the efficiency of state oversight. But it will be tough for ACLI or any backer of federal charters to have it both ways.

If insurers invite federal regulators into the industry, dual chartering might indeed produce a more efficient regulatory system, but in the pursuit of efficiency, supporters and foes alike in the industry must not lose sight of the price that might have to be paid.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, November 26, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

Contact Webmaster

Special Reports /

Federal Charter Backers Risk Unintended Consequences

Related Stories

Recommended For You