{ "id": "R44046", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44046", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 587478, "date": "2016-12-30", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T14:58:52.794047", "title": "Insurance Regulation: Background, Overview, and Legislation in the 114th Congress", "summary": "The individual states have been the primary regulators of insurance since 1868. Following the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, this system has operated with the explicit blessing of Congress, but has also been subject to periodic scrutiny and suggestions that the time may have come for Congress to reclaim the regulatory authority it granted to the states. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, congressional scrutiny was largely driven by the increasing complexities of the insurance business and concern over whether the states were up to the task of ensuring consumer protections, particularly insurer solvency.\nImmediately prior to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, congressional attention on insurance regulation focused on the inefficiencies in the state regulatory system. A major catalyst was the aftermath of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA), which overhauled the regulatory structure for banks and securities firms, but left the insurance sector largely untouched. Many larger insurers, and their trade associations, had previously defended state regulation but considered themselves at a competitive disadvantage in the post-GLBA regulatory structure. Various pieces of insurance regulatory reform legislation were introduced, including bills establishing a broad federal charter for insurance as well as narrower, more targeted bills.\nThe financial crisis refocused the debate surrounding insurance regulatory reform. Unlike many financial crises in the past, insurers played a large role in this crisis. In particular, the failure of the insurer American International Group (AIG) spotlighted sources of risk that had gone unrecognized. The need for a systemic risk regulator for the entire financial system was a common thread in many of the post-crisis financial regulatory reform proposals. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203), enacted following the crisis, gave enhanced systemic risk regulatory authority to the Federal Reserve and to a new Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). Three insurers have since been designated as Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) although one of these designations has been overturned in federal court. The Dodd-Frank Act also included measures affecting the states\u2019 oversight of surplus lines insurance and reinsurance and the creation of a new Federal Insurance Office (FIO) within the Department of the Treasury.\nThe states, particularly working through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), have generally not been idle following congressional attention. They reacted quickly to GLBA requirements that related to insurance agent licensing and to the changes enacted in Dodd-Frank, including engaging with the FSOC and FIO. The regulatory initiatives undertaken by the NAIC since the financial crisis include increased oversight of holding companies and new enterprise risk management requirements. Because enactment by the state legislature is necessary before the NAIC\u2019s suggested legal changes can take effect in that state, the process typically does not move rapidly.\nAmong the insurance regulatory issues addressed by legislation in the 114th Congress are the licensing of insurance agents and brokers (H.R. 26/P.L. 114-1), the degree of the authority of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) over insurers (H.R. 1478/S. 798), and international insurance standards (S. 1086, H.R. 2141, H.R. 5143, and H.R. 6436). S. 1484/S. 1910 and H.R. 5983, broader bills addressing financial regulation, also include provisions on the latter two topics and would modify the SIFI designation process. In addition, other international issues have been of concern to Congress, such as the European Union\u2019s Solvency II project to overhaul the European insurance regulatory system and the U.S. state requirements on non-U.S. insurers for reinsurance collateral.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44046", "sha1": "43f4dd2a5dac8a215b7cdabaf30826dd5cbcf242", "filename": "files/20161230_R44046_43f4dd2a5dac8a215b7cdabaf30826dd5cbcf242.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44046_files&id=/0.png": "files/20161230_R44046_images_f09778a15d4ad9c9392ca81ed986ba4f66a447b0.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44046", "sha1": "747114fb80c72bddadca1e47c693b108f5463631", "filename": "files/20161230_R44046_747114fb80c72bddadca1e47c693b108f5463631.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 445454, "date": "2015-09-16", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:22:20.141826", "title": "Insurance Regulation: Background, Overview, and Legislation in the 114th Congress", "summary": "The individual states have been the primary regulators of insurance since 1868. Following the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, this system has operated with the explicit blessing of Congress, but has also been subject to periodic scrutiny and suggestions that the time may have come for Congress to reclaim the regulatory authority it granted to the states. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, congressional scrutiny was largely driven by the increasing complexities of the insurance business and concern over whether the states were up to the task of ensuring consumer protections, particularly insurer solvency.\nImmediately prior to the recent financial crisis, congressional attention to insurance regulation focused on the inefficiencies in the state regulatory system. A major catalyst was the aftermath of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA), which overhauled the regulatory structure for banks and securities firms, but left the insurance sector largely untouched. Many larger insurers, and their trade associations, had previously defended state regulation but considered themselves at a competitive disadvantage in the post-GLBA regulatory structure. Various pieces of insurance regulatory reform legislation were introduced, including bills establishing a broad federal charter for insurance as well as narrower, more targeted bills.\nThe 2008 financial crisis refocused the debate surrounding insurance regulatory reform. Unlike many financial crises in the past, insurers played a large role in this crisis. In particular, the failure of the insurer American International Group (AIG) spotlighted sources of risk that had gone unrecognized. The need for a systemic risk regulator for the entire financial system was a common thread in many of the post-crisis financial regulatory reform proposals. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203), enacted following the crisis, gave enhanced systemic risk regulatory authority to the Federal Reserve and to a new Financial Services Oversight Council (FSOC). Three insurers have since been designated as Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) and now are overseen by the Federal Reserve at the holding company level. The Dodd-Frank Act also included measures affecting the states\u2019 oversight of surplus lines insurance and reinsurance and the creation of a new Federal Insurance Office (FIO) within the Department of the Treasury.\nThe states, particularly working through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), have generally not been idle following congressional attention. They reacted quickly to GLBA requirements that related to insurance agent licensing and to the changes enacted in Dodd-Frank, including engaging with the FSOC and FIO. The regulatory initiatives undertaken by the NAIC since the financial crisis include increased oversight of holding companies and new enterprise risk management requirements. Because enactment by the state legislature is necessary before the NAIC\u2019s suggested legal changes can take effect in that state, the process typically does not move rapidly.\nAmong the insurance regulatory issues addressed by legislation in the 114th Congress are the licensing of insurance agents and brokers (H.R. 26/P.L. 114-1), the degree of the authority of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) over insurers (H.R. 1478/S. 798), and international insurance standards (S. 1086 and H.R. 2141). S. 1484 and S. 1910, broader bills addressing financial regulation, also include provisions on the latter two topics and modify the SIFI designation process. In addition, other international issues may be of concern to Congress, such as the European Union\u2019s Solvency II project to overhaul the European insurance regulatory system and the U.S. state requirements on non-U.S. insurers for reinsurance collateral.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44046", "sha1": "bf3e46da8785d97dab38b34e81f924c584b58afd", "filename": "files/20150916_R44046_bf3e46da8785d97dab38b34e81f924c584b58afd.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44046", "sha1": "70bd0b2e451ae080bd7d9c3ae8e5c3ec2d5a1e1f", "filename": "files/20150916_R44046_70bd0b2e451ae080bd7d9c3ae8e5c3ec2d5a1e1f.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc689158/", "id": "R44046_2015May27", "date": "2015-05-27", "retrieved": "2015-08-03T15:06:47", "title": "Insurance Regulation: Background, Overview, and Legislation in the 114th Congress", "summary": "This report discusses insurance regulatory issues addressed by legislation in the 114th Congress including the degree of the authority of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) over insurers (H.R. 1478/S. 798), international insurance standards (S. 1086 and H.R. 2141), and the licensing of insurance agents and brokers (H.R. 26/P.L. 114-1).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150527_R44046_e2d6a0fd05b2d1dcd592275e5255335db2500cec.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150527_R44046_e2d6a0fd05b2d1dcd592275e5255335db2500cec.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Insurance", "name": "Insurance" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Insurance companies", "name": "Insurance companies" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Insurance law", "name": "Insurance law" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806236/", "id": "R44046_2015May20", "date": "2015-05-20", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Insurance Regulation: Background, Overview, and Legislation in the 114th Congress", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150520_R44046_f5469cf8d48da779a416cd816dc5f8f99f267aee.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150520_R44046_f5469cf8d48da779a416cd816dc5f8f99f267aee.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Domestic Social Policy", "Economic Policy" ] }