THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S call for an Office of National Insurance within the Treasury Department couldn't have come at a better time.

As we report on page 4, the administration's white paper on financial services regulatory reform really doesn't have much to say about insurance. Most of the paper's recommendations deal with larger financial services questions, such as who should regulate institutions—possibly including some insurance holding companies, and what powers the regulators should have. All of the recommendations, of course, will have to be translated into legislative language acceptable to Congress and the president.

That's why we say that recommending establishing the ONI couldn't have come at a better time. The debate over financial services regulatory reform is likely to be long and complicated. There's a good chance that insurance issues will be overshadowed by other, larger financial services issues, despite the attention the near-collapse of American International Group Inc. has drawn on Capitol Hill since September.

While we wish the administration had endorsed the idea of an optional federal charter for insurers and producers, we're realistic enough to know that such a controversial break with regulatory tradition is unlikely to be enacted with so many other issues demanding attention.

The ONI, which enjoys the support of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. and most insurance industry trade groups, can win approval on its own merits. Given the administration's explicit backing of the idea, we're more optimistic than ever that such approval will be forthcoming.