E-News - June 23, 2006

NAPSLO testifies on Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act
NAPSLO  praised the introduction of the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006 (H.R. 5637) during congressional hearings on Wednesday.  

In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, Richard Bouhan, NAPSLO Executive Director and General Counsel, praised Subcommittee Richard Baker and Representatives Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) and Dennis Moore (D-KS) for introducing this important regulatory reform legislation.    

"We are pleased that Chairman Baker has taken the surplus lines and reinsurance concepts from the original draft of the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act (SMART Act) proposal and addressed them in a separate bill in an effort to speed the advancement of these proposals through the legislative process," says Bouhan.  "This legislation will bring much-needed relief to the complex and confusing surplus lines regulatory process, and we are grateful that many of NAPSLO's concerns are directly addressed in the bill." 

Many of the bill's provisions, including the creation of a uniform system of premium tax allocation and remittance, uniform standards for producer licenses, one-state compliance on multi-state surplus lines risks, and direct access to the surplus lines market for sophisticated purchasers are concepts long endorsed by NAPSLO.  

"We believe that this legislation will significantly increase the level of efficiency for surplus lines insurance, particularly across multiple jurisdictions, for everyone involved in the non-admitted market, from the companies down to the consumers.  We appreciate the Subcommittee's leadership on this issue, and for making insurance regulatory reform a priority."  

A complete copy of Mr. Bouhan’s testimony is available on the Legislation/Regulation section of the NAPSLO website (www.napslo.org), under the News heading. 

Hilton Chicago Sells Out
NAPSLO has received an unusually large number of early registrations for the 2006 Annual Convention in Chicago and while all registrations have not been processed, it appears all rooms at the Hilton Chicago are sold out.

Attendees are being placed at the Palmer House Hotel, however rooms at that hotel are also being filled up quickly. 

Registration materials were sent to NAPSLO members in late May and many firms have registered employees for the convention, scheduled for September 13-16 at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. 

NAPSLO, which had already reserved the same number of rooms utilized at the 2005 Annual Convention in San Francisco, is currently working on securing a third hotel.

REMINDER - NAPSLO Moves to New Offices
As of June 1, 2006 NAPSLO is located at a new location in Kansas City. Please note the new address and send all correspondence to the new address.

200 N.E. 54th St. #200  Kansas City, MO 64118