Insurance Sifis face bank-style supervisory regime

Federal Reserve Board proposals on the supervision of systemically important non-banks would subject insurers to a bank-style regime. Insurance risk managers say the rules make no sense for their industry. By Peter Madigan

American International Group (AIG) has a lot to answer for – including, perhaps, forcing some of its peers into a new, tougher regulatory environment. The insurer’s bail-out in September 2008 prompted the Dodd-Frank Act to demand that systemically important non-banks be subject to the oversight of the Federal Reserve Board. Prior to its collapse, the unit of AIG responsible for incurring its losses had been regulated by the now-defunct Office of Thrift Supervision.

Insurers and other large non