Sept. 18, 2014 — Adam Hamm, president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and North Dakota insurance commissioner since 2007, has been appointed to a two-year term as the state insurance commissioner representative on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).
As a state insurance commissioner, Hamm is one of five non-voting members on the FSOC, which is composed of 10 voting members led by the Treasury secretary.
Hamm, a Republican, replaces Missouri Insurance Director John Huff, a Democrat, on the FSOC at a critical time for insurance stability oversight. Huff had served his two terms.
FSOC is awaiting a response from MetLife on whether it will accept or appeal its proposed designation as a systemically important financial institution (SIFI.) FSOC proposed the designation Sept. 4 without disclosing the name of the company.
FSOC is also reviewing what appears to be another insurer or reinsurer, now in the Stage 2 process of SIFIhood. Stage 3 is the final analysis before the books are closed on a company.)
There is also partisan legislation pending in Congress seeking to forestall more proposed designations for a period of time, and to force the FSOC to be more forthcoming with information as well as to allow in to its closed meetings certain members of Congress.
Huff marked his tenure at FSOC publicly with his dissent in the FSOC’s designation of Prudential Financial as a SIFI and an open statement at an NAIC meeting that members of FSOC did not understand insurance.
Huff and the NAIC have been critical of FSOC In the past but it is unknown how Hamm will play the cards given to him as a non-voting member of the Council.
The NAIC in 2011 wrote to then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner that Huff was being stymied by the FSOC and Treasury in his attempts to tap the NAIC and the state insurance departments for additional staff support and that Huff had been prohibited from discussing or seeking guidance from relevant state regulators even on a confidential basis. The NAIC also complained that FSOC was limiting Huff’s role on the FSOC. See: http://www.naic.org/documents/testimony_letter_110209_fsoc_geithner.pdf
Huff argued a year ago this month that the basis for the Prudential decision lacked evidence, analysis and was speculative, and based on unlikely events. He said what the FSOC did do was merely show that Prudential was a large and complex institution, but that was all it showed. See: http://www.naic.org/documents/index_fsoc_130920_huff_dissent_prudential.pdf
Huff also criticized some of the statements and arguments in the majority or “basis” opinion as suggesting “a lack of appreciation of the operation of the state-based regulatory framework, particularly its resolution processes”
For instance, he demonstrated alarm that the FSOC majority reasoned that the authority of an insurance regulator to ring-fence the insurance legal entity could complicate resolution and could pose a threat to financial stability.
Huff argued that Ring-fencing is a powerful regulatory tool utilized by insurance regulators to protect policyholders and prevents the transfer of assets without regulatory approval.
It has been a great honor to serve on behalf of my fellow state insurance regulators on FSOC,” said Huff in a statement today.
Hamm stated that he will assume his new role “with great respect for the work of Director Huff and I look forward to working with the other financial regulators as we take the next steps to promote a stable insurance marketplace and protect the broader financial sector.”
The FSOC was created by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 to monitor the safety and stability of the nation’s financial system, identify risks to the system, and coordinate a response to any threats.
Companies designated as SIFIs are subject to oversight on a consolidated basis by the Federal Reserve Board. For example, Prudential Financial is being regulated as an entity by the Boston Fed, although accompanying capital rules have yet to be developed and imposed. Home state regulator New Jersey still oversees the various insurance components and market conduct elements of Prudential, but must confer with the Fed.
Huff was appointed to FSOC in August 2010 by NAIC. His term began Sept, 15, 2010 and he was reappointed in 2012 for a second term which expired on Sept. 15, 2014.
Thank you,
WASHINGTON INSURANCE RIDER 