Treasury Biggie: Let Terror Risk Act Expire
By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor
NU Online News Service, Dec. 17, 12:30 p.m. EST, Washington?A top Treasury Department official has said that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program should not be extended beyond its scheduled expiration date of Jan. 1, 2006.[@@]
Published reports quoted Wayne Abernathy, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, as telling a meeting of the Consumer Federation of America, Washington, that he wants the help of consumers in assuring that the TRIP program is not extended.
"We want to make sure it stays a temporary program," Mr. Abernathy is quoted as saying.
A complete speech text was not immediately available this morning.
TRIP was enacted as a bridge aimed at giving the insurance market time to develop capacity to underwrite terrorism risks in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Under the law, Treasury is required to conduct a study of insurance capacity, which has not yet been completed.
David Winston, vice president of federal affairs for the Indianapolis-based National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said NAMIC appreciates Treasury's deference to the private sector, but said that when the TRIP program expires at the end of 2005, NAMIC believes that some federal presence should continue.
It is unknown, Mr. Winston said, whether adequate capacity will be available to cover terrorism risks.
The terrorism threat, he said, will not disappear in 2006.
"As long as the ability of the private sector to develop adequate pricing is based on information that is and should remain classified and in the sole possession of the federal government, there must be a federal presence in the terrorism market," Mr. Winston said.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.