BestWeek: Elected Commissioners Defend Electoral Role in Insurance Regulation

Critics of elected insurance commissioners say the office can become too concerned with electoral politics instead of the regulatory process. To supporters, that’s a good thing, according to a story in this week’s BestWeek U.S/Canada.

Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler told BestWeek he appreciates the political independence of being personally elected because it forces the insurance department to be more in tune with the needs and wants of insurance consumer. But John Lobert, senior vice president for state government relations for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said politics should not play a part in the regulation of business and consumer affairs.

As analysts peer into U.K.-based life insurer Prudential plc’s proposed $35.5 billion (26.0 billion euro) acquisition of AIA Group Ltd. in a bid to become an Asian life insurance giant, the reviews are coming in mixed, according to BestWeek Europe. Equity analysts at London-based Bernstein Research said the combination can be a big boost to Prudential’s growth prospects, while others such as Pandora Leung of KGI Securities in Hong Kong say the price is too high and the synergies doubtful.

Also in BestWeek U.S./Canada, the Senate may now be deciding the future of the U.S. financial system, and the American Insurance Association is trying to get a say in that. “I think most people would like to see a bill get done,” AIA’s President and Chief Executive Officer Leigh Ann Pusey told BestWeek in an exclusive interview. But getting financial reforms done right is key, she said. “I’m not anxious to have a bad bill pushed through for the sake of getting something done. I think there could be harm done to the financial system broadly and I think particularly to the insurance industry.”

To hear the interview with Pusey in its entirety, go to http://www.ambest.com/media/media.asp?RC=169626.

BestWeek is published by A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals. To subscribe, visit http://www.ambest.com/sales/BestWeek.

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Co. is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers.