U.S. Insurance Market Briefing and an Update of Dodd-Frank Implementation

This PowerPoint report, presented by Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, focuses on the implications for insurers of the Dodd-Frank Financial Services Reform & Consumer Protection Act. The presentation specifically reviews the issue of systemic risk, noting that a small number of insurers may be designated as Systemically Important Financial Institutions, and the roles of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Federal Insurance Office (FIO), agencies created by Dodd-Frank. The report discusses the status of Dodd-Frank a year after it was voted into law and the reasons for its slow implementation. Also included is a detailed analysis of the multi-stage process proposed by FSOC for designating a firm to be systemically important. It explains that an FIO study on the state of insurance regulation is due on January 21, 2012. Also discussed are the expected impact of Dodd-Frank on insurance in short, medium and longer term concerning the streamlining of regulation, dealing with the question of the whether the ultimate regulatory authority for insurance will be federal or state and international coordination and the harmonization of regulation. Further sections provide an insurance industry financial developments overview and outlook, and as review of financial nonlife and life insurers’ strength and solvency.