NU Online News Service, Jan. 12, 9:57 a.m.EST

NEW YORK – Michael T. McRaith, director of the FederalInsurance Office, said he is aware of anxiety that his office willbe asking for duplicate data, bogging the insurance industry downin paperwork for what has been perceived as, potentially, anadditional regulatory authority.

In front of some of the industry's most powerful chiefexecutives and trade associations, McRaith reiterated that the FIO“is not a regulatory authority,” and concerns that the office willask for duplicate data “are not well-founded.”

The FIO is required to seek information from a public sourcefirst, he said at the Property/Casualty Insurance Joint IndustryForum on Jan. 10.

True, the FIO has subpoena power and McRaith said its ability todo so is “an important component of our authority;” but the officewill only seek to exercise its power “as a last resort to obtaincritical information,” after a company refuses to offer theinformation.

The speech was clearly meant to update his audience on theprogress made by the FIO, as it works to lay its foundation, as a“monitor” of the insurance sector while also acting as a singlepoint of contact for the industry at the federal level.

He said circumstances will likely dictate FIO's focus and thedefinition of “monitor,” but that doesn't mean the FIO “will sitidly by while the world spins.”

McRaith said, “FIO is poised to be flexible enough to not onlybe responsive to current events affecting the insurance industry,but also take the lead in facilitating dialogue and directionregarding the insurance sector both nationally andinternationally.”

McRaith, who was director of the Illinois Department ofInsurance before his appointment to lead the FIO, said he has a “great respectfor state regulators,” and remembered a time only a short while agowhen he was working to reform the workers' compensation system inIllinois.

Additionally, McRaith said, the Department of Treasury“understands, appreciates and respects” the insurance industry.

McRaith acknowledges the anticipation surrounding the release ofthe FIO's report on insurance modernization.

He says the report will be released late this month, and whileit will be a “broad undertaking,” it will only be a “small slice ofour total responsibility,” as it cannot “address every issue thatwarrants improvement or modernization.”

The scheduled report will not be FIO's last, he adds.