Sen. Charles Schumer is back in the optional federal charter game.
Schumer, D-N.Y., and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, made headlines Monday when they unveiled a report from consultants at McKinsey & Company, New York, that found that red tape could cost New York its position as a world financial capital.
In one section, the consultants suggest that giving insurers a choice between state regulation and federal regulation could make New York more appealing, by helping to lower U.S. insurers' compliance costs and reduce barriers to entry for foreign insurers.
The property-casualty trade groups that opposed the old OFC proposals have lined up to criticize the McKinsey consultants' OFC proposal, and the life groups and other groups that belong to the Optional Federal Charter Coalition, Washington, have lined up to support the proposal.
"The coalition believes the new report will add vitally important information to the discourse on the need for insurance regulation reform," say officials at the OFC Coalition.
The coalition represents many financial services groups, including the American Bankers Association, Washington; the American Council of Life Insurers, Washington; and the National Association of Independent Life Brokers, Fairfax, Va.
