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NAIFA President Cliff Wilson Testifies Before House Committee | GovWatch | Advocacy | NAIFA
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NAIFA GovWatch

NAIFA President Cliff Wilson Testifies Before House Committee

Discusses Consumer Financial Products Regulation

Issue: Insurance and Financial Services Regulatory Reform

Date: June 24, 2009

Action Taken: NAIFA President Cliff F. Wilson, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, CLF will testify today before the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing, entitled “Regulatory Restructuring: Enhancing Consumer Financial Products Regulation,” which will focus on ways in which financial product regulation can be enhanced to better protect consumers.

The hearing was called in order to address certain provisions contained in the Obama Administration’s plan to overhaul financial services regulation. The Administration’s white paper, “Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation,” calls for the creation of a new independent regulator to oversee the soundness of financial products to ensure consumer protection. Among the questions the Committee will be exploring today is whether insurance products – specifically annuities – should fall under the jurisdiction of such a regulator.

In his statement before the Committee, President Wilson will explain that insurance products should not fall under the proposed Consumer Product Safety Commission for the following reasons:

  1. Insurance products are subject to comprehensive state regulatory oversight. Federal intervention in this context is unnecessary and could lead to regulatory confusion. 
  2. Separation of insurance product regulation from insurance solvency regulation is dangerous.
  3. Federal financial product oversight should be addressed only as part of a comprehensive review of insurance regulation. 

To view a copy of NAIFA’s testimony, please visit: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/wilson_-_naifa.pdf.

Watch the Hearing Live!

The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. ET. To watch a live webcast please visit:  http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia-live/financialserv/16489/300_financialserv-qwertyuiop_070131.asx

To view archived footage of the webcast after the hearing is complete, please visit:
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hrfc_062409.shtml

To view NAIFA’s position on all issues related to insurance regulatory reform, please visit: http://www.naifa.org/advocacy/irr/index.cfm.

NAIFA Staff Contact: Jill Edwards, Assistant Vice President – Federal Government Relations, at jilledwards@naifa.org.

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