Economic, demographic and regulatory forces have traditionally shaped the direction of life insurance offerings. This will continue in at least eight areas.

Lawmakers plan to introduce a bill that would repeal the protection that the McCarran-Ferguson Act now gives health insurers and medical malpractice insurers against federal antitrust laws.

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has passed a measure to create a scaled-back federal office that would be a national insurance information agency with some authority in the area of international insurance agreements.

The new federal office would not have any regulatory authority over the business of insurance and would not be able to override state insurance laws.

Milliman research report designed to identify why some companies have not yet registered with or filed through the IIPRC and to gauge the experience of those companies which have filed Interstate Compact submissions. The survey asked companies 17 questions regarding the IIPRC and overall, revealed a high level of satisfaction for companies currently filing IIPRC submissions. Responses to the survey were submitted by 61 companies.

Was the tearing down of financial regulatory walls a good thing for the U.S. insurance industry and other members of the financial sector? Did the deregulation facilitate competition and innovation as its authors intended?

An important contribution from a strong and viable insurance industry is to help foster a sound economy. Insurers and their reinsurers have a shared responsibility to sustained, solid financial performance in order to be able to protect critical assets for years to come.

The Insurance Studies Institute (ISI) and Professor Kent Smetters of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania will work together on Designing a Systemic Risk Regulator, a research project to study the need and optimal design of a systemic risk regulator in light of the recent financial crisis.

This report examines how the financial crisis is set to reshape the industry as a whole, along with some of the key developments that are likely to affect particular segments and geographical markets.

Claims issues continue to dominate the focus of auditors reviewing insurers’ market conduct compliance, according to a new report issued today. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a provider of compliance, content, and technology solutions and services, released its fifth annual list of the top 10 reasons insurance companies are found to be out of compliance during market conduct examinations. The list, which separates property/casualty from life and health insurers, was compiled by the company’s Insurance Compliance Solutions group.

National insurance regulators across the world have begun signing up to a global framework for sharing information about large cross-border insurers such as Allianz (ALVG.DE) and Aviva (AV.L).

Despite the turmoil in the global economy, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of insurers plan to grow outside of their home market in the next 12 months, according to findings of a global survey released today by Accenture.

http://www.acli.com/NR/rdonlyres/75656A72-6E2A-4FCC-A2A1-240DF52FF085/19...

A recent Geneva Association survey of industry compliance and other experts reveals most expect the global financial crisis will lead to increased regulation. The press release summarizes the findings. Questionnaire and results found at http://www.genevaassociation.org/PDF/Progres/Questionnaire.pdf.

New research says that although the United States experienced a considerable decline in the reported value of insurance industry M&A transactions, the non-U.S. transaction value decline was even more dramatic, according Conning Research and Consulting.

Regulatory Issues Impel Advance on the Hill

Despite the fact Solvency II in its current form will apply only to the European Union, North American insurers are encouraged to pay attention to the factors underlying its development. If, as anticipated, Solvency II leads to markedly lower capital charges for EU-based companies, then the Europeans will have a significant competitive advantage over North American companies.

The insurance and financial services industry is at a crossroads. In the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the combination of volatile economic conditions and a rapidly changing competitive landscape has many firms facing a challenging future.

As the situation continues to evolve, Towers Perrin experts offer their insights into the current state of the insurance industry, and how developments on Wall Street and around the world will impact insurers in both the short and long term.

The drive to create a federal regulator for insurance companies gained steam Tuesday in the wake of public outrage over American International Group's bonus packages and a growing concern among lawmakers that the states' oversight is insufficient.

The US life insurance industry will be dealing with the multiple lingering after-effects of the global financial crisis and deepening recession.

Financial services and insurance companies face enormous challenges in 2009 as they manage through the economic downturn and respond to market shifts and consumer expectations.

After a consistent series of setbacks in past legislative sessions, the long-running effort to establish a federal charter for insurers may soon be entering its endgame.

Melissa Bean, D-Ill. announced that she and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., will co-sponsor the National Insurance Modernization Act (NIMA) in the next several weeks. Bean made the announcement March 4, in Washington, DC at the 2009 Insurance Reform Summit presented by Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University. Previously referred to as the National Insurance Act in the 109th and 110th Congress, Bean said that the bill is undergoing fine-tuning as sponsors finalize discussion on key elements such as consumer access, uniformity and whether a federal charter would be optional or mandatory for insurers deemed systemically significant.

The financial crisis has accelerated calls for a new global regulatory framework governing the financial services industry. Multiple government initiatives have been launched to enhance financial stability, restore confidence and review the existing regime. As regulators formulate new guidelines, the (re)insurance industry is actively contributing to the debate in order to help create a regulatory environment that reduces the chances of a similar crisis reoccurring.

Around 70 representatives of primary insurance companies from all over Europe, and some from further afield, came together on 23 – 24 June 2008 at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue for a packed agenda of presentations, discussions and networking. Leading expert key note speakers addressed delegates, together with senior management from Swiss Re. All were focused on a single theme – growth opportunities, together with their accompanying risks, for life and health insurance markets in Europe.

Summary of a presentation at Insurance Forum 2008 by Swiss Re’s Head of Client Markets, Michel Liès.

American International Group, rescued twice last year by the U.S. government, is asking for more aid and bracing for a fourth-quarter loss of roughly $60 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. It would be the biggest loss in a quarter in corporate history.

The $60 billion would exceed Time Warner's $54 billion single-quarter loss in 2002 and dwarf the $24.5 billion loss AIG posted in the third quarter, when the government increased its rescue package for the insurer to about $150 billion.

By contrast, two analysts polled by Reuters Estimates have forecast on average a net loss of $5.46 billion.

In spite of the daily news reports of carriers of all sizes seeing lowered financial results, there are factors affecting the global market are coming together to create opportunities for growth. Such was the premise made by Michael Costonis, partner at New York-based Accenture at his presentation at LOMA’s 2009 Emerging Technology conference in San Diego.

A bill to federalize the regulation of insurance may be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as early as next week. In a conference call, Reps. Ed Royce (R - Calif.) and Melissa Bean (D - Ill.), sponsors of the National Insurance Consumer Protection and Regulatory Modernization Act, said the bill would create a national insurance regulator who will work with a pan-industry systemic risk regulator to better protect the financial system.

The global financial crisis will bring major changes to the US life insurance industry, impacting the balance sheets, operating performance and competitive positioning of many of these organizations, according to Ernst & Young's Global Insurance Center US Outlook for the life insurance industry. But for some insurers, opportunities will emerge as well.

Monthly report from KPMG shows life insurance deal value continued to decline in the third quarter; however, the number of life insurance deals rose from second quarter as small and mid-market life insurers acquired smaller life insurance companies whose capital positions were directly affected by the market volatility.

Has the financial crisis in the United States has claimed yet another victim? According to a new report, "Guilt by Association or Real Trouble? Outlook for US Life Insurer's Profitability and Spending" from TowerGroup, U.S. life insurers—among the largest institutional shareholders in the world—have written off major investments in struggling financial firms. As a result, the life insurance industry is facing a number of challenges to profitability in the wake of the financial crisis, and needs to look to initiatives that will prevail though 2009 as the industry recovers. (Reg. req'd - free)

The latest moves by several insurers to try to qualify for relief under the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, are attracting a lot of attention this week. But purchasing troubled savings and loan companies as a way to reinvent themselves into banks or thrift holding companies may prompt these insurers to lose their chance at a piece of the TARP.

Life settlements and stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) are hot topics in today’s life insurance industry. Writing in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Insurance Digest, Mary Bahna-Nolan, Larry Rubin, Steven Siow and Selina Wang describe what life settlements are and how they came about. We discuss how life settlements impact the business of life insurance, and what life insurance companies are doing in response to the demand for these secondary life insurance market instruments.

The financial crisis engulfing Wall Street — specifically the government takeover of American International Group Inc. of New York — underscores the need for a federal presence watching over the insurance industry, the American Council of Life Insurers told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) sent a letter to Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, supporting H.R. 5840, The Insurance Information Act of 2008.