Raskin says systemically important insurers should not face the same capital requirements as banks

US President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve as deputy US Treasury Secretary told lawmakers on Wednesday that she believes large systemically important insurance companies should not have to adhere to the same capital requirements as banks.

During her confirmation hearing Sarah Bloom Raskin told the Senate Finance Committee: “A one-size-fits-all approach is not going to work here. Insurance companies have a very different set of asset liability structures than do banks. And to regulate them in terms of a one-size-fits-all approach is not going to be an effective form of supervision or regulation in my experience.”

Raskin also said that Financial Stability Oversight Council members who had insurance expertise would be able to offer “good insight” into how the new framework should be structured.

The Financial Stability Board has published a list of nine insurers that it considers systemically important to the global economy and is considering applying capital requirements currently applicable for banks to these insurers.

These insurers include:

  • Allianz;
  • American International Group;
  • Assicurazioni Generali;
  • Aviva;
  • AXA;
  • MetLife;
  • Ping An Insurance Company of China;
  • US non-life insurer Prudential Financial; and
  • UK life insurer Prudential Plc.

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