Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner announced Thursday that the first director of the new Federal Insurance Office (FIO) will be Michael McRaith, currently insurance director of Illinois and formerly the secretary/treasurer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
The announcement was made, according to a report in The Hill, at a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), a panel created by Dodd-Frank to assemble all heads of major financial regulators for discussion of matters that affect the financial sector. NU Online News Service reported that McRaith, as head of FIO, will be in charge of an office responsible for keeping the Treasury secretary up to date on the financial health of insurers, as well as helping federal officials determine any potential risk an insurer might pose to the stability of the financial system.