Trade groups representing large insurers are urging the Treasury Department to ensure that the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) play a strong role in representing the U.S. on global insurance issues.
“We believe there is an important role for the federal government with regard to insurance and reinsurance,” the letter said.
The letter also asks that the Obama administration appoint someone to head the office “who has the experience and stature necessary to carry out the portfolio that Congress has enumerated for the FIO.” The office was created under the recently enacted financial services reform bill.
Although the Obama administration has not indicated whom it will name to the post, industry officials believe that a primary candidate is Michael McRaith, Illinois insurance commissioner.
In a letter to the Treasury Department sent this week, the coalition also demanded “active engagement” with the large domestic and foreign insurers and reinsurers they represent in drafting the reports the FIO is mandated to make to Congress on insurance issues.
These issues include proposing ways regulation of the U.S. insurance industry can be improved and another “on the breadth and scope of the global reinsurance market and the critical role the market plays in supporting insurance in the U.S.”
The letter also said that “making sure these reports incorporate industry input and provide objective analysis of these respective issues is key.”