Two recent news stories–dealing with banking and the airlines–make me wonder more than ever about the wisdom of letting Uncle Sam regulate the insurance industry outright. State oversight has its faults, but I fear consumers could be worse off if states are stripped entirely of their authority to hold insurers accountable for poor market conduct.
On Dec. 4, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a lower court ruling that the Comptroller of the Currency has exclusive authority over federally-chartered banks.
Washington initiated the legal challenge when then New York Attorney General (now governor) Eliot Spitzer launched a probe into the lending practices of three national banks, and indicated he had evidence they had violated state civil rights laws. The probe revolved around whether the banks were charging higher interest rates on mortgages to minorities.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
