By Hope Patti
Bipartisan legislation seeking to clarify the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has drawn support from insurance regulators and industry trade groups who say the bureau has encroached upon state-based insurance regulation despite clear statutory limitations.
Insurance industry leaders say recently introduced legislation would clarify the scope of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s authority. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Business of Insurance Regulatory Reform Act of 2024 seeks to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, also known as Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which established the CFPB and gave the bureau the authority to regulate financial products and services. The lawmakers said they hope to make clear that states are in charge of regulating insurance, not the federal government, as provided by the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945.
Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, told Law360 that the CFPB and its director, Rohit Chopra, have signaled an interest and an appetite to expand the bureau’s reach into some parts of the insurance industry.
Congress intentionally wrote into the statute that the CFPB was created to protect consumers, except with respect to insurance, Grande said.
The proposed legislation has also garnered support from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or NAIC, which includes chief insurance regulators from all 50 states.