RAA to strive for regulation reforms

WASHINGTON--The Reinsurance Assn. of America said Wednesday it is pursuing comprehensive regulatory reform for reinsurance this year.

"Reinsurance is a global business involving transactions between sophisticated parties," RAA President Franklin W. Nutter said in a statement. "Reinsurance regulation needs to be harmonized with the global structure of reinsurance transactions."

Mr. Nutter continued: "An appropriate reinsurance regulatory structure should include a single regulator for reinsurance with national regulatory oversight to achieve uniformity of regulation within the United States.

"The single regulator should be authorized to enter into bilateral regulatory agreements with foreign countries to provide for recognition and enforcement of substantially equivalent regulatory standards and enforcement in other competent regulatory jurisdictions," Mr. Nutter said.

The RAA said it is joining the Optional Federal Charter Coalition. The group represents Washington-based industry associations that advocate an insurance regulatory system achieved through enactment of federal legislation and an optional federal charter.