The retirement announcement of Rep. Barney Frank no doubt had alot of tongues wagging among insurance lobbyists on Capitol Hilland in carrier home offices around the country, with the focus onwhether the financial-services reform law that bears his name willultimately survive his departure—and if so, in what form.

The outspoken Massachusetts Democrat, who said he won't berunning for re-election in 2012 after 32 years in the House ofRepresentatives, made his mark when he chaired the House FinancialServices Committee by leading the fight to pass the Dodd-Frank WallStreet Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Frank admitted he was worn down by the partisan bickering inCongress, particularly now that he's in the minority party in theHouse. Plus, he noted that his district has been redrawn, requiringa more vigorous and expensive campaign to hold his seat than he'dlike to take on at the age of 71.

But whatever the reason, a fierce defender of financial-servicesregulatory reform is preparing to step aside, following in thefootsteps of the co-author of his landmark legislation, Sen. ChrisDodd, the Connecticut Democrat who left Congress last year.

Frank still serves as the ranking Democrat on the HouseFinancial Services Committee, but it's been an uphill battle toimplement his signature law. In press interviews following hisannouncement, Frank lamented the lack of cooperation on CapitolHill these days, particularly when it comes to seeing his visionfor Dodd-Frank fully realized.

He complained that his opponents were trying to nickel-and-dimethe budgets of regulators whose duty it is to implement Dodd-Frank,but expressed doubt that efforts to scale back many of the law'sprovisions—including a number of those impacting insurers—wouldultimately prevail.

Still, with such a fierce proponent of reform on his way out thedoor, it's fair to ask whether Dodd-Frank will remain intact afterthe exit of both its chief defenders. It's still way too early tosay, with the outcome of the 2012 election just one major factor toconsider.

However, it's likely that no matter whichparty ends up running Congress and the White House come 2013, thebattle over how (or even whether) to implement Dodd-Frank could goon for years. That means insurers will probably remain incompliance limbo for quite some time and will have to adapt on thefly as regulatory reform plays out.

Adding more uncertainty into the mix is how Solvency II rulesinEuropewill be finalized, as well as the outcome of the SolvencyModernization Initiative launched by the National Association ofInsurance Commissioners.

In the meantime, one thing we know for sure is that the FederalInsurance Office created under Dodd-Frank is finally getting up tospeed. Indeed, within a couple of months we'll see the FIO's takeon state regulation when the agency's first high-profile report isdue to Congress. While it's not expected that the report will callfor radical changes, the fact is we just don't know what role theFIO will eventually carve out for itself under Uncle Sam's federalregulatory umbrella.

One last thought about Frank: He will be missed by one group forcertain—the media. Indeed, he rarely failed to live up to his name,and was rarely shy about being “frank” with his views. No one inCongress provided more entertaining and provocative sound bites.For example, in a speech right after his bombshell announcement, hereassured his audience that his retirement proclamation was not thereason why the stock market had soared nearly 500 points the daybefore.

I covered a number of Frank's speeches while I was Editor inChief of National Underwriter, including one in which heinsisted he was not in favor of direct federal regulation ofinsurer market conduct.

Frank was a state legislator for eight years before he waselected to the House, and I recall him openly lamenting having todeal with the complaints of constituents about their auto andhomeowners insurance premiums or when they sought his interventioncollecting on claims. With tongue only partly in cheek, he said abig reason why he had come toWashingtonwas to avoid such pleas, andthat the last thing he wanted to do was flood his congressionalswitchboard with similar insurance-related calls.

Of course, that was long before the financial crisis hit andinsurance was swept up in the regulatory reform current, thanks inlarge part to Frank's efforts. He has certainly made a lastingimpression on the industry, but it remains to be seen whether hislegacy will last long beyond his departure from Congress—at leastwhen it comes to insurance.