By
Washington
The American Council of Life Insurers is following a two-pronged lobbying strategy as it seeks to reform insurance regulation.
Allen Caskie, vice president for financial services with the group, based in Washington, says that CEOs from member companies are engaging in personal contacts with members of Congress, both in the House and the Senate, discussing the reasons why life insurers support optional federal chartering for insurance companies.
But at the same time, he says, ACLI understands that OFC will not receive active consideration this year. Therefore, Caskie says, ACLI is working with the House Financial Services Committee to include targeted reforms aimed at the most pressing problems facing the life insurance industry in the proposal the Committee is now developing.
"We are optimistic we can produce something that will really work," Caskie says.
He says that ACLI still believes the solution for the regulatory problems facing life insurers is OFC.
The board of directors, Caskie notes, agreed last year that if ACLI was serious about moving OFC forward, members of Congress must be made aware of the problems.
And this should come not from the association, he says, but from those who have to deal with the problems in the real world.
ACLI, Caskie says, has been arranging visits with members of Congress for CEOs, who come to Washington either individually or in groups. On March 8, he notes, some 7 CEOs visited members of Congress on a single day.
