NU Online News Service, Feb. 2, 2004, 6:16 p.m. EST – Insurance commissioners are promoting the value of state insurance regulation this week in Washington.[@@]
The commissioners, who are in the capital for the annual meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo., face the possibility that Congress could consider legislation this session that would establish some kind of federal insurance regulation.
Lawmakers slated to speak at the NAIC meeting include Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio; Sen. Richard Baker, R-La.; Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H. and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
In addition to listening, insurance commissioners plan to talk to lawmakers to explain why state regulation is important, according to NAIC President Ernst Csiszar, the South Carolina insurance director.
Csiszar cites the NAIC's work on an interstate product filing compact as an example of state regulators' efforts to establish national standards.
Csiszar points to the investigations of the mutual fund industry undertaken by the office of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as another example of the good work that state regulators can do.
Csiszar acknowledges the need for state regulators to move quickly to improve the current regulatory system.
The NAIC has to focus its committee structure and meetings more on speed-to-market and streamlining issues, Csiszar says.