A life insurance official will testify Wednesday before a House panel on a bill that could require states to establish a uniform system of regulation for surplus lines and reinsurance products.
The hearing, before the Capital Markets Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, concerns efforts to create a uniform regulatory system for the insurance industry by dividing the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act bill into smaller bills that are easier to pass.
The uniform regulation bill, the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, is, in effect, a component of the SMART Act bill, observers say.
In May, House Financial Services Committee staffers were drafting a proposal that could give pre-emptive regulatory authority to home-state regulators.
The plan was to present a finished product to the 2 primary sponsors of the SMART Act, Reps. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Richard Baker, R-La., chairman of the capital markets subcommittee.
The Senate is considering another proposal that would give insurers the option of coming under the jurisdiction of a federal insurance regulatory agency.
