The future success of insurance supervision rests in the continued system of state regulation, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), President Alessandro Iuppa told members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in July in Washington, D.C.
Speaking on behalf of the NAIC, Iuppa, who is the Maine superintendent of insurance and the chairman of the executive committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), outlined to committee members the need to retain a coordinated, national system of state-based insurance supervision, which would continue to meet the needs of the modern financial marketplace while effectively protecting individual and commercial policyholders.
Iuppa said that any consideration of insurance must begin with an understanding that insurance products are fundamentally different from banking and securities products and, consequently, the state-based system has evolved over the years to address these fundamental differences. He cautioned the committee to avoid undercutting state authority in considering any federal legislation that would pre-empt important consumer protections.
Iuppa also updated the committee on various key initiatives, including the success of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact, the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing, the National Insurance Producer Registry, and other market and financial regulatory initiatives.
