The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) is ramping up its opposition to optional federal charters. NCOIL President Rep. Frank Wald (N.D.) wrote a letter July 10 to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) to again voice NCOIL opposition to federal initiatives that threaten to unbalance successful state-based regulation of insurance.

The NCOIL letter states that current federal initiatives “would cripple the states’ ability to properly regulate insurance and protect the interests of their citizens.”  It asserts that “state regulation has successfully promoted insurer solvency and protected consumers for more than 130 years, and is making great strides to modernize insurance oversight in an increasingly competitive, global environment.” 

According to NCOIL, the OFC, as well other initiatives being considered would nullify critical state-initiated consumer safeguards, deny important consumer access and recourse in problem times, undermine ongoing state modernization efforts and ultimately impose the costs of a needless federal bureaucracy upon the public.

In addition, NCOIL commended both the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NSCL) for, on July 10, joining NCOIL in opposing the optional federal charter (OFC) created under S. 2509.

NCOIL Reasserts Resistance to Federal Insurance Regulation (July 10, 2006)
 
NCOIL Letter to Sens. Shelby and Sarbanes (July 10, 2006)

NCOIL Letter – July 2006

July 18, 2006