November 23, 2011
Electronic commerce presents consumers with choices never before imagined. But in the world of insurance, despite an expanding array of coverage options, few consumers are able to take full advantage of the ability to compare and contrast terms, conditions and costs, because most insurers don’t make copies of their policies available prior to purchase. Consumer [...]
November 18, 2011
In this week’s edition of the FIRE Podcast, I offer updates on major insurance issues brewing on Capitol Hill, including delays in getting a Senate floor vote on legislation to reform the National Flood Insurance Program (the program has now been extended temporarily through Dec. 16); the potential that the Super Committee proposal could be [...]
November 15, 2011
Some forthcoming comments from the Center on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate to the newly created Federal Insurance Office are going to include a public reconsideration of a position we’ve taken in the past. In particular, we are no longer supporting an optional federal charter for property and casualty insurance. Although some publications I helped [...]
November 11, 2011
The Financial Stability Oversight Council – the college of regulators established by the Dodd-Frank Act as the ultimate overseers of systemic financial risk – last month reissued proposed rules governing how they will designate which non-bank financial institutions will be designated systemically important. FSOC is proposing a three-stage process that begins by screening for firms [...]
November 9, 2011
Though final numbers likely won’t be available until the National Credit Union Administration releases call report data for the fourth quarter, an initial survey by the Credit Union National Association projects that its members brought in 40,000 new members and $80 million in savings account funds on Nov. 5, the target date for an online [...]
November 9, 2011
MetLife Inc., American International Group, Prudential Financial and possibly Berkshire Hathaway all could be designated as systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, according to rating agency Moody’s Investors Service. In its analysis, Moody’s notes that Met, AIG and Pru all meet the empirical thresholds set by the FSOC in its [...]
November 8, 2011
At their national meeting this past weekend, the full National Association of Insurance Commissioners formally adopted a long-awaited (and much needed) overhaul of the group’s model law and regulation governing credit for reinsurance. The move should help to set the stage for more states to follow the lead of Florida and New York and finally [...]
November 8, 2011
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a D.C. audience that in addition to ending huge tax breaks and subsidies for the agricultural and energy industries, fiscal responsibility requires that “tax loopholes in the financial industry that are outdated should be closed too, such as taxing carried interest at ordinary income rates.” “I say this [...]
November 7, 2011
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) bills were signed by President Obama in March 2010, states already were moving to protect themselves from this overtly partisan major legislation, which affects every state, person and company in the United States. Arizona and Oklahoma overwhelmingly passed the Health Care Freedom Act constitutional amendment in [...]
November 4, 2011
As the Occupy Wall Street protests continue on, some observers have started to wonder about the potential for convergence among left-wing and right-wing populists. Jim Harper of the Cato Institute has attracted particular attention for popularizing this Venn diagram suggesting the common interests of OWS and the tea party movement. In this week’s edition of [...]
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