NAIC Reacts To Csiszar Resignation
By Jim Connolly
NU Online News Service, Aug.19, 2:09 p.m. EDT?Officials with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said an electronic election will be held within days to fill the vacancy created by NAIC President Ernst Csiszar's abrupt resignation to take a post with an industry lobbying group.[@@]
State insurance commissioners huddled to decide what steps to take just hours after Mr. Csiszar announced that he would leave his positions as South Carolina insurance director and NAIC president to become president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
He is due to join the Des Plaines, Ill.-based PCI on Oct. 4. Under usual circumstances, the position of president runs through December when a new president steps in for the following calendar year. Typically, the NAIC vice president assumes the post of presidency.
Jim Poolman, NAIC vice president and North Dakota insurance commissioner, says that if elected, he will continue to aggressively pursue the NAIC's agenda both in Congress and with state legislators. NAIC will continue to pursue consumer initiatives, he said.
When asked whether the cause of state regulation would be hurt in Congress by the NAIC president's resigning to become head of a major industry trade group before his term had expired, Mr. Poolman said that he did not think so. The PCI is an active supporter of state regulation, he said.
Mr. Csiszar during his term has been a strong proponent of industry deregulation. Mr. Poolman said the NAIC will continue to develop the issues it has been working on throughout the year. Those issues include a regulatory road map and quickly addressing the issue of adopting a market conduct model, he noted.
Cathy Weatherford, NAIC executive vice president and CEO, said that a vice president and secretary treasurer for the organization will be determined during the fall meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, next month. She said that the commissioners felt it was important to get a new leader in place quickly. A new president should be elected by early next week, she said.
When asked about the perception of state regulation in Congress and whether the cause for state regulation would be hurt by Mr. Csiszar's move, Ms. Weatherford replied that she hopes it will not be affected. NAIC has had a "really strong continuity of leadership" and a "presence" on Capitol Hill for years, she adds.
Consumer representatives have suggested Mr. Csiszar's abrupt role change could raise conflict of interest questions.
Ms. Weatherford said that there is a general belief among membership that "the NAIC is bigger than one person and that it is a strong organization that possesses unity and continuity of leadership."
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