Seitz Promoted to Federal Insurance Office Director Post

Steven Seitz has assumed the role of director of the Federal Insurance Office at the Treasury Department, after months of serving as acting director, according to sources.

The promotion was effective this past week. The FIO director reports to the Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, which is led by Acting Assistant Secretary Kipp Kranbuhl.

According to his biography on LinkedIn, Seitz graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2005, went to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2010, and started at Treasury in the office of the assistant general counsel in 2013. He joined FIO in 2014.

Seitz was first hired as deputy director and has worked closely with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and insurance industry shareholders and is open to feedback and input, based on numerous accounts from many involved.

Seitz is the third director of the office, which was created by the Dodd-Frank Act and was up and running in 2011. He follows in the footsteps of Michael McRaith, who hired him as deputy, and most recently, Steven Dreyer, who served as director from June to November 2018.

Dreyer faced bureaucratic challenges after a long career in the private sector, according to sources. Treasury had conducted a long search process to hire Dreyer. It appears that the FIO director position was not posted on USAjobs.gov after Dreyer quit.

McRaith, who, as director, delivered numerous reports on the insurance sector, modernization and consumer availability and affordability, stepped down at the end of the Obama administration, in January 2017, so Seitz had served as acting director during the interim.

FIO participates in multi-agency groups on financial stability, long-term care insurance, retirement planning and other issues facing the financial services industry.

FIO will be hosting its next Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance meeting April 18.

Treasury was not immediately available for a comment.

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