NAPA, CALIF.–The National Conference of Insurance Legislators has approved a revised market conduct model surveillance act that attempts to eliminate some regulatory discretion when it comes to insurance company examinations.

NCOIL's action came Friday at the organization's annual meeting here.

The revision effort stemmed from the state lawmakers' dissatisfaction with the current model, which was crafted with an eye to meeting regulators' concerns and securing joint sponsorship with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

But lawmakers said the fact that the model has garnered virtually no interest in state legislatures indicated that it was time to go back to what they were originally seeking in terms of legislation.

The revised model strengthens requirements that commissioners recognize other states' rights to oversee market conduct of the companies domiciled in their state under a concept known as “domestic deference.”

An amendment proposed by the American Council of Life Insurers curbs the right of a commissioner in a carrier's state of domicile to reject the findings of another state's market conduct probe once if they initially agree to the inquiry.

It also mandates that any such investigation or examination be conducted on the basis of some market analysis data, and not simply at the discretion of the commissioner.

Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss, who is also chair of the NAIC Market Conduct Committee, was at the NAPA meeting and signed off on all the changes, asserting they were in the spirit of the efforts her committee was undertaking to streamline the market conduct system.

But she expressed little enthusiasm for taking the revised document back to the NAIC for joint approval, as the original compromise model was approved by a divided NAIC plenary body.

Neil Alldredge, senior vice president for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said the new bill was an improvement, and his group would actively support it in states where it would represent an improvement over the current system

Unlike the last effort, consumer groups played a small role in developing the new model.

Special Reports /

NCOIL Sets New Market Conduct Oversight Model

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