Illinois' top insurance cop to run Federal Insurance Office

The Treasury Department has chosen Michael T. McRaith, Illinois' chief insurance regulator, as head of the new Federal Insurance Office. The office, which was established in the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, does not have any regulatory powers but will monitor the insurance industry and reach out to Congress and federal agencies on important industry issues. As director of the Federal Insurance Office, Mr. McRaith also will take a seat at the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which will identify threats — for instance, financial institutions that are “too big to fail” — to the nation's financial stability. As the top insurance cop in Illinois, Mr. McRaith oversaw the runoff of Kemper InsuranceGroup and also led the department's investigation into contingent commissions, improper payments made to agents and brokers by insurers for steering clients to those carriers. In 2005, Mr. McRaith and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan reached a $27 million settlement agreement with insurance brokerage firm Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for accepting contingent commissions from carriers. Currently, Mr. McRaith is the secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and participates in an array of its committees and task forces, including the AIG Managing Task Force and the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee.