What Others Are Saying

The writing is on the wall – there will be a massive overhaul of financial services regulation.  And this will include insurance.  Recent statements from prominent policy makers include:  

Representative Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee: “The question of an optional federal charter for insurance, particularly life insurance, is on the committee’s agenda for probably next year.” (9/24/09)

Paul Volcker, Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman: “I think a lot of the big insurance companies would welcome a national charter and the consistencies that would provide,” Volcker said. “I don't want to permit them into the safety net. But I do think that they ought to be regulated in a consistent way.” (9/24/09)

Senator Richard Shelby, Ranking Republican of the Senate Banking Committee:  “...Comprehensive insurance regulation must be a part of our reform effort.” (7/28/09)

Representative Paul Kanjorski, Chairman of the House Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee: “I believe that only ostriches can now deny the need for establishing a federal insurance resource center and a basic federal insurance regulatory structure.” (6/16/09)

Representative Paul Kanjorski, Chairman of the House Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee: “We’re going to be moving toward regulation on the federal level of insurance. That’s going to happen. We have to have that. We don’t have a choice right now.” (4/28/09)

Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury: “There is a very good case for optional federal charter legislation to be introduced.”  (3/26/09) 

Senator Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee: “If [insurance regulation] is going to be dispersed among 50 jurisdictions, then you’re going to end up with a spotty system – some places it works, some places it doesn’t.”  (3/17/09)

Senator Richard Shelby, Ranking Republican of the Senate Banking Committee: “If insurers are managing risks on a national basis, it may make sense to consider regulating them on a national basis as well.”  (3/17/09)

Representative Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee: “…we will have to think about doing an optional federal charter for life insurance.”  (3/5/09)

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: “I think that it would be a useful idea to create a federal option for insurance companies, particularly for large, systemically critical insurance companies.  So I do believe that an optional federal charter would be a direction worth giving serious consideration.”  (2/25/09)

Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury: “I think these proposals to have a federal charter have a lot of merit and we'll look at them very carefully, and my personal view is that's likely to be an important part of the plan.”  (2/10/09)