NU Online News Service, May 15, 5:54 p.m. – Insurance regulators in California and Connecticut say they are making progress with efforts to develop new insurance privacy regulations, while Vermont regulators continue to defend their privacy regulation in court.
State insurance departments throughout the country have been writing privacy regulations to comply with the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999.
California: The California Insurance Department says it hopes to release a new draft of its privacy regulations May 24. The draft would get a 15-day public comment period.
California held a hearing on the first draft of its privacy regulations in February. Officials are developing the new draft based on comments they received during the hearing.
Connecticut: Gov. John Rowland, a Republican, has signed S.B. 352, enacting a new financial services privacy law that gives Insurance Commissioner Susan Cogswell the authority to write Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy regulations for Connecticut.
The General Assembly Legislative Review Committee will probably review the Connecticut Insurance Department's proposed regulation May 28, according to Leslie Wolfgang, the department's counsel.