Insurance org. pushes for federal presence

The financial crisis engulfing Wall Street underscores the need for a federal presence watching over the insurance industry, the American Council of Life Insurers told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today.

The financial crisis engulfing Wall Street — specifically the government takeover of American International Group Inc. of New York — underscores the need for a federal presence watching over the insurance industry, the American Council of Life Insurers told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today.
The takeover of the insurer highlights the need for an office of insurance information within the Department of the Treasury, Frank Keating president and chief executive of the Washington-based ACLI, wrote in a letter to Mr. Paulson.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the heads of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee.
Tonight, Congress is scheduled to vote on legislation introduced by Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Penn., that would create such an office, which would act as a liaison between the insurance industry and the government, and would have power to pre-empt state regulations when negotiating international treaties.
“I am writing to you to make such an insurance information office a reality now,” Mr. Keating wrote.
“As national policy decisions are reached regarding how to better oversee the U.S. financial markets, it is imperative that the administration and Congress have access to the same level of information on the insurance industry as they have with respect to banking and securities,” he continued.
Mr. Keating also called for establishing an optional federal regulator over the long term, which he said is “the only means of ensuring that national financial regulatory policies emerging as a result of the present turmoil are effectively made applicable to the insurance industry and coordinated with the banking and securities industry.”