WASHINGTON--Charles Chamness, president and chief executiveofficer of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies,has written the Senate urging it to reform rather than replace thestate-based insurance regulatory system.
|His letter was written in anticipation that Congress will debatelegislation dealing with insurance regulatory issues when itreturns to work from its summer recess Sept. 8.
|He was responding to the comments July 29 by Sen. Chris Dodd,D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, at a hearing oninsurance issues.
|Sen. Dodd said during the session that he would poll hiscommittee over the recess to determine what insurance regulatorybills the committee would be interested in passing this year.
|In the letter, Mr. Chamness voiced support for creating anOffice of Insurance Information within the Treasury Department.
|Such an office would represent the limited form of federaloversight NAMIC finds appropriate, Mr. Chamness said. The bill isH.R. 5840, the Insurance Information Act.
|"NAMIC believes an OII could play an important role in theeffort to streamline and modernize the state-based insuranceregulatory system, while recognizing and respecting the rightfuland necessary role of state-based regulation," Mr. Chamnesssaid.
|Mr. Chamness also said in his letter that NAMIC would supportpassage of two other bills, one streamlining oversight ofnonadmitted insurance and reinsurance carriers, and anotherproviding a mechanism for creating uniformity in licensing ofinsurance producers.
|The bill reforming regulation of the surplus lines industry isH.R. 1065, the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act. The billrecreating the National Association of Registered Agents andBrokers is H.R. 5611.
|But he said NAMIC does not support legislation that would allowrisk retention groups, currently limited to liability coverage, toprovide property insurance. That bill is H.R. 5792.
|The House is expected to pass legislation creating an OII andreestablishing NARAB soon after it returns from recess.
|Legislation streamlining the surplus lines and reinsuranceindustry passed the House last year. The legislation he asked forquick action on is the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Act of 2007.
|Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate last year as S.929, by Florida senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson.
|S. 929 is co-sponsored by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, a member ofthe Banking Committee, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
|In his letter this week, Mr. Chamness said that "NAMIC believesthat significant regulatory reforms are necessary to meet the needsof a dynamic, competitive, modern insurance marketplace."
|He added, "The package of targeted reforms outlined above is animmediate, effective and appropriate means of advancing insuranceregulatory reform."
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