'State vs. Federal Insurance Licensing and Regulation' conference held at VCU

By Frances Altman
VCU School of Business

Government regulation, foreign trade and the lack of “one voice” for the insurance industry were among the issues discussed at the second annual Risk & Insurance Studies Center Conference at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The conference was held March 14 and the theme was “State vs. Federal Insurance Licensing and Regulation.”

VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., introduced the conference’s keynote speaker, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., calling him one of the strongest leaders in Congress.

Cantor said there is a climate of too much regulation in Washington.

“We want to be No. 1,” he said. “We can compete with a minimum amount of government intrusion. We ought to be about attracting trade here, not in creating regulations and tax structures that discourage foreign companies from entering into business in Virginia and other states.”

Cantor also expressed concern that since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks there has been an increased amount of “dabbling” by the federal government in insurance matters.

Following Sept. 11, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) was signed. Since then, Cantor said, Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters have followed, “causing members of Congress to exercise a rescue attitude” upon the occasion of these events.”

Cantor is serving his third term and holds a seat on the House Ways & Means Committee, which directs jurisdiction over taxes, trade, Social Security and other welfare issues. 

“What is the proper role for government?” he asked. “I am convinced that government be allowed to be a backstop, the bill (TRIA) is expiring, and I hope that we extend it.”  However, Cantor feels that most of the issues now being reviewed by Congress will continue to “bubble up until late summer or drag into fall.”

Another problem discussed by panelists was that unlike the financial industry, which is represented by the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of the Treasury, the insurance industry has no top representative of influence.

Most panelists agreed that the insurance industry can never become a one-stop shop, but efficiencies can be achieved in the life insurance area because forms are generally uniform from coast to coast. 

The VCU Risk & Insurance Studies Center in the School of Business sponsored the conference with the cooperation of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia.