ALTA Urges Support for Bill to Clarify CFPB’s Ability to Regulate Insurance
December 7, 2017
ALTA joined seven other insurance trade groups urging support for a bipartisan bill that would clarify and reinforce the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to regulate the insurance industry.
In a statement for the record to the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, ALTA wrote that Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act explicitly exempted the business of insurance from the purview of the CFPB except to the extent the “enumerated consumer laws”
“Essentially, Dodd-Frank reiterated that the regulation of insurance had been delegated to the states under the McCarran-Ferguson Act,” the letter said. “Unfortunately, the Bureau has demonstrated its willingness to ‘tip toe’ into insurance regulation and explore the extent of its powers in an open-ended and sometimes confusing manner.”
The subcommittee held a hearing on Dec. 7 titled “Legislative Proposals for a More Efficient Federal Financial Regulatory Regime: Part II,” which debated HR 3746, the "Business of Insurance Regulatory Reform Act of 2017.
HR 3746—introduced by U.S. Reps. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), would amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to clarify the authority of the CFPB with respect to entities regulated by a state insurance regulator, and for other purposes.
“The bureau should only exercise regulatory jurisdiction over the business of insurance where it has clear authority from Congress and that deference should be given to state insurance regulators when it comes to the business of insurance,” the letter states. “When considering regulatory reform at the bureau, avoiding the kind of duplication which would be created in regulating insurance must be at the top of the priority list.”
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].