NU Online News Service, April 13, 2:50 p.m. EDT

Ken Ross says he will leave his position as commissioner of the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation on Friday.

Ross did not say what his future plans are in a statement released by the OFIR, and there is no word about an interim commissioner or permanent replacement.

An OFIR veteran, Ross was deputy commissioner for policy and the commissioner's chief of staff before being appointed to the top state regulator post in February 2008 by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Prior to the OFIR he was vice president of regulatory and legal affairs for the Michigan Credit Union League and was assistant attorney general.

Ross continued as commissioner under new Gov. Rick Snyder.

"Despite the many challenges that we faced during this economic downturn, Michigan's financial service industry remained fundamentally stable, strong and well regulated," says a statement from Ross.

Ross is credited with coming up with a legislative package to protect consumers from mortgage fraud, and he oversaw the creation of new penalties for those behind securities fraud. Ross also negotiated the creation of the state's high-risk insurance pool and transitioned the OFIR to electronic form and producer licensing filings.

An opponent of insurers' use of credit scoring in underwriting, Ross lost battles to ban the use in the state court system. Last year the state Supreme Court ruled OFIR exceeded its authority when it tried to ban the use of the underwriting tool in 2005.

Special Reports /

Michigan Insurance Commissioner Quits

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