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Washington, DC - Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to further explore how to improve oversight of the insurance industry in order to protect insurance consumers from risks in the system and prevent insurance companies from posing a systemic risk and threatening the American financial system.
“It is now clear that we must restructure the federal government’s role with regard to insurance oversight,” said Chairman Kanjorski. “At the very least, the federal government must have in-house expertise on this significant sector of the financial services industry and have an ability to watch over insurers as part of broad systemic risk and consumer protection authorities. A federal office, focused on collecting and analyzing insurance information, would provide the minimum role for the federal government in ensuring that insurance is not at a disadvantage as compared to other financial products by helping Congress and the federal government make better decisions regarding insurance policy matters.”
Chairman Kanjorski added, “We must also further examine the ultimate role of the federal government in overseeing insurers, insurance holding companies, and reinsurers. The bond insurance crisis, the near-collapse of American International Group (AIG), numerous insurers requesting TARP funding, and the need for mortgage insurers to obtain more capital to underwrite new business have all shown that insurance is both an important part of the national economy and certain lines may require more comprehensive and consolidated oversight. I look forward to hearing from a variety of witnesses during this hearing and learning their thoughts on this important issue.”
Who: Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
What: Subcommittee hearing on the “Systemic Risk and Insurance”
When: June 16, 2009
10:00 a.m.
Where: 2128 Rayburn House Office Building
Witnesses will be announced at a later date.
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