This story is reprinted with permission from FC&&S Legal, the industry's only comprehensive digital resource designed for insurance coverage law professionals. Visit the website to subscribe.

U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have introduced legislation that would make it clear that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) may not regulate insurance.

The bill, S.2702, says that it would “amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to clarify the authority of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection with respect to persons regulated by a State insurance regulator, and for other purposes.”

'State-based system for insurance regulation has been effective'

Nat Wienecke, senior vice president for federal government relations at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), said in a statement that the PCI “applauds the leadership and bipartisan efforts of Senators Scott, Rounds, Baldwin, and Manchin for introducing this important legislation that recognizes that our state-based system for insurance regulation has been effective in protecting consumers and fostering competitive insurance markets for over 150 years.

“When Congress created the CFPB in the Dodd-Frank Act, it chose to exempt the business of insurance from its jurisdiction, but the CFPB has overstepped its boundaries in some instances. This important bill reflects the congressional intent of Dodd-Frank that the CFPB should not engage in regulatory activity related to the business of insurance.”

Avoid duplicative or conflicting regs

The president and chief executive officer of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Dirk Kempthorne, said in a statement that the bill “will provide certainty for insurers and consumers that there will not be duplicative or conflicting consumer protection regulations in the future.”

The House Financial Services Committee marked-up companion legislation in January.

Steven A. Meyerowitz, Esq., is the director of FC&S Legal, the editor-in-chief of the Insurance Coverage Law Report, and the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc. Email him at smeyerowitz@meyerowitzcommunications.com.

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Bipartisan bill would block consumer bureau from regulating insurance

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