Thomas E. Hampton was confirmed by the Washington, D.C. CityCouncil on Tuesday as commissioner of the city's Department ofInsurance, Securities and Banking.

Mr. Hampton has been serving as acting commissioner sinceSeptember 2005 when Larry Mirel stepped down to enter privatepractice.

Under Mr. Mirel, the District had become competitive withcaptive domiciles, including Vermont and South Carolina in thechartering of captive insurance companies.

Since the department was authorized to charter captive insurancecompanies in 2001, it has issued licenses to more than 50 captivesand risk retention groups.

Mr. Hampton has worked at the department and its predecessorssince 1988. His last post was deputy commissioner in charge oforganization-wide policy development and program execution, as wellas technical oversight of its insurance, securities, banking andfraud investigation activities.

Before joining DISB, Mr. Hampton had extensive experience in theindustry, especially in property and casualty insurance.

A certified public accountant and certified financial examiner,he managed the accounting and financial activities of captiveinsurance companies in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands for CignaWorldwide in New York. He also served as a supervisor in generalaccounting with the American International Group.