New York City
The New York Insurance Department is continuing efforts to revive the New York Insurance Exchange, with an "ambitious" goal of having it ready in 2010, one official said.
That timetable was laid out by New York First Deputy Superintendent Kermitt Brooks, speaking at a breakfast here sponsored by E. G. Bowman Company.
The exchange debuted in 1980 as a syndicated, subscription-based market modeled after Lloyd's of London, to write both specialized risks as well as reinsurance. It folded seven years later.
Mr. Brooks acknowledged the previous failure of the exchange, but said market conditions and the economy are different today. He also said the plan is to offer tax incentives to encourage investment in the system.
He said he is not yet sure what the financial structure of the exchange would look like, and added efforts are currently geared toward attracting interest and securing the tax credit.
Mr. Brooks also said New York Gov. David Paterson is "very supportive" of the effort, and is intrigued by the idea of creating jobs and capacity in New York.
At a dinner hosted by Lloyd's in New York in June 2008, Gov. Paterson said a New York Exchange "would be complementary to what Lloyd's does on its side of the ocean."
Mr. Brooks also spoke about proposed legislation for federal involvement in insurance regulation. Input and participation from the states, he said, is crucial if such plans are to be effective. At times, he related states have had to "fight to make our presence known" in discussions over federal plans for regulation going forward.
But the states have all the expertise regarding insurance, and the federal government has very little, Mr. Brooks noted. "There's a role for both state and federal regulation," he said.
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