Hill Hearings Focus on Investment Banks, Insurance Regulation

MBA (6/10/2008 ) Sorohan, Mike
The Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee hold hearings today, respectively, on credit policies at investment banks and potential creation of a national insurance regulator.
The Senate Banking Committee’s hearing, part of its series on Turmoil in U.S. Credit Markets, will examine securities underwriting practices at investment banks. Tentative witnesses included representatives from Wall Street investment banks. The hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. ET in room 538 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

On the other side of the hill, The House Financial Services subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises holds a hearing on H.R. 5840, the Insurance Information Act of 2008, which would create a federal Office of Insurance Information within the Department of the Treasury to provide advice and expertise on insurance policy to the Administration and to Congress.

Subcommittee Chairman Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., introduced the bill in April; it has four co-sponsors. He said the proposed office would “provide an effective way to help Congress and the federal government make more informed decisions regarding national and international insurance policy.”

Scheduled to testify:

• Jeremiah Norton, deputy assistant secretary with the Treasury Department;
• Michael McRaith of the Illinois Division of Insurance on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners;
• Brian Kennedy of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and president of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators;
• Neal Wolin, president and CEO of property and casualty operations with The Hartford Financial Services Group on behalf of the American Insurance Association;
• Stephen Rahn, vice president and associate general counsel with Lincoln Financial Group on behalf of the American Council of Life Insurers;
• Tracey Laws, senior vice president and general counsel with the Reinsurance Association of America; and
• David Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

The hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. ET in room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building. House and Senate hearings can be accessed live over the Internet at www.house.gov; www.senate.gov; and www.capitolhearings.org.