Following months of committee hearings and discussions on the development of international insurance standards, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) introduced the Transparent Insurance Standards Act which would increase transparency and strengthen Congress’s role in supervising foreign standards setting organizations.

Luetkemeyer, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, introduced H.R. 5143, which would establish a framework before U.S. representatives to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) are permitted to consent to the adoption of any international insurance standard. The legislation would require the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury to publish a proposed standard in the Federal Register and allow for public comment.

“I’ve worked with my colleagues to develop legislation that helps to ensure the United States will not only maintain its involvement in international conversations, but will sit at the head of the table. This legislation maintains that international discussions should first and foremost represent the state-based regulatory system and protect American policyholders. The United States has a robust domestic insurance marketplace that puts policyholders first and it is critical that we maintain it.”

H.R. 5143 would reinforce that any international insurance standard agreed to at the IAIS would not be self-executing and could not be applied in the United States until it is implemented through the required domestic process and provides Congress the opportunity to reject a bad agreement. It would require the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve to work to ensure policyholder protection, increased transparency, and recognition of the state-based model of insurance regulation.