On May 20th, the NY Times ran an editorial titled “Regulatory Shopping”. The very valid point of the editorial is that if you give the regulated the option to choose their regulator, no good can come of it:
And yet, legislation recently introduced in the House would allow insurance companies, currently regulated by the states, to opt for federal regulation instead — and, in general, if they don’t like that, to switch back after a spell. If the bill were enacted, the race to the regulatory depths would continue, and the nation would be headed in exactly the wrong regulatory direction.
Agreed, no argument. I take issue, however, with the assumption of the NYT that state insurance regulators have covered themselves in glory. Robust defenders of the rights of policyholders? Not exactly. In the pocket of the insurance industry? Sometimes. Opaque? Always. And that’s without addressing the quagmire/insanity that is insurance insolvency regulation and the guaranty fund system.
Continue Reading State Insurance Regulation: The Lessons of History (AIG Edition)