Regulation/Legislation

The Federal Reserve appears to be reiterating that it will use bank-centric standards opposed by the insurance industry in regulating insurance companies that operate thriftsalthough some industry trade groups are disputing that interpretation.

Britain's financial regulator fined Lloyds Banking Group $6.7 million on Monday for not paying compensation quickly enough to customers wrongly sold insurance on loans and mortgages.

A presidential executive order outlining some guidelines on cyber-security-coordination efforts may help get the ball rolling on more meaningful legislation, but by itself, the order does not seem to make any mandatory demands on private entities, at least at this time, an insurance-industry expert says.

The House Financial Services Committee is urging the Federal Insurance Office to submit several long overdue reports without further delay.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., made clear to the Treasury Department that renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act will be one of his top priorities for this Congress. Treasury Secretary designate Jacob Lew says he is not familiar with Obama administration stance on the issue.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is coming under heavy fire for its handling of Superstorm Sandy flood claims in New York and New Jersey. The criticisms extended to Write-Your-Own companies that in many cases process flood claims for FEMA.