Crowd-Sourcing Insurance Regulations
By the middle of December, "interested persons" will have submitted their comments to the new Federal Insurance Office (via the Federal eRulemaking Portal regulations.gov or by "snail mail") as to how they think the U.S. system of insurance and regulation could or should be modernized. This is one of the many requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act, which specifies that the FIO conduct a study of modernization of U.S. insurance regulation.
The topics commenters could address include systemic risk regulation, capital allocation standards, consumer protection, the degree of national uniformity of state insurance regulation, and the costs and benefits of potential federal regulation of insurance. According to the Department of Treasury, responses should include approaches and options toward improvement or modernization, if any; the data or rationale, including examples, supporting any opinions or conclusions; and any specific legislative, administrative or regulatory proposals for carrying out such approaches or options.
Many insurance industry players are opposed to any kind of change regarding these issues; and among those who are open to change, there is disagreement as to just what those changes should be. Similarly, who the interested persons will be, and how much attention will be given to their comments, remains to be seen. But there's no denying that these all are critical matters for the industry to resolve.
Download the December digital issue of Insurance & Technology to explore how forward-looking insurers are pursuing the transparency, risk controls and data insight that are the hallmarks of the new regulatory environment.
Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio
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