On June 17, 2009, the Treasury Department issued a white paper called “Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation.” This paper had been eagerly anticipated, as it was expected to outline the administration’s position on insurance industry oversight. Specifically, some insurance insiders thought the Treasury Department might propose a federal-level insurance industry regulator.

In the end, the paper did not recommend that. It did propose something called an Office of National Insurance (ONI), which is supposed to “gather information, develop expertise, negotiate international agreements, and coordinate policy in the insurance sector.” It also stressed the importance of federal involvement in insurance consumer protection. Some industry leaders have expressed concern that the ONI will end up regulating insurance in some way at the national level, but at this point, that is not its purpose.

Most agents support uniformity between states in terms of regulation and licensing requirements, but they stop short of wanting federal intervention.

How do you feel about the subject? Do you think federal involvement in insurance regulation can have its benefits? Have differences in requirements from state to state caused you any problems? Or do you think the state-level regulation system is fine as it is, and federal involvement is just not the way to go?

To read the whole white paper, click here