Important changes have buffeted the insurance industry over the
past decade. The 1999 repeal of key provisions of the
Glass-Steagall Act unleashed a wave of conglomeration in financial
services, as bank holding companies acquired insurance and
securities businesses and, to a much lesser degree, insurance
companies acquired securities firms and banks. Rivalry within the
sector has intensified: insurance companies have developed products
that compete directly with the offerings of banks and securities
firms and vice versa. In addition, the industry has become
increasingly global.
Against this backdrop, pressure has been building for
fundamental changes to the structure of insurance regulation in the
United States. Despite several court challenges over the years,
insurance continues to be regulated by the states. Many insurance
companies view state regulation as an increasing drag on their
efficiency and competitiveness and support a federal regulatory
system. However, powerful stakeholders, including state officials,
state and regional insurance companies, and many insurance agents,
oppose federal regulation. As a result, proposals to establish an
optional federal charter (OFC) for insurance companies and agents
remain mired in fierce debate.
The Future of Insurance Regulation in the United States gathers
some of the country's leading experts on financial regulation to
assess the case for an enhanced federal role in the insurance
sector. They pay particular attention to the merits of an OFC and
how it might be designed. They also consider the principles that
should guide insurance regulatory policies, regardless of the
institutional framework, and examine the implications of financial
convergence and the internationalization of insurance markets for
an optimal regulatory structure.
The debate over insurance regulation has only grown in
complexity and intensity since the financial crisis began in the
fall of 2008. This book will both inform and help to shape those
critical discussions.
Contributors: John A. Cooke (International Financial Services
London), Robert Detlefsen (National Association of Mutual Insurance
Companies), Martin F. Grace (Georgia State University), Robert W.
Klein (Georgia State University), Robert E. Litan (Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation and Brookings Institution), Phil O'Connor
(PROactive Strategies), Hal S. Scott (Harvard Law School), Harold
D. Skipper (Georgia State University), Peter J. Wallison (American
Enterprise Institute).
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