[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6213 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6213

     To establish the Reinsurance International Solvency Standards 
                           Evaluation Board.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2008

  Mr. Feeney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish the Reinsurance International Solvency Standards 
                           Evaluation Board.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reinsurance International Solvency 
Standards Evaluation Board Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

    There is established the Reinsurance International Solvency 
Standards Evaluation Board, to evaluate the reinsurance supervisory 
systems of the States of the United States and jurisdictions outside 
the United States to determine, on a uniform basis, whether such 
systems provide adequate capital and risk management standards and an 
acceptable level of prudential supervision over their domiciled 
reinsurers.

SEC. 3. CORPORATE STATUS.

    (a) In General.--The Board shall--
            (1) be a nonprofit corporation;
            (2) have succession until dissolved by an Act of Congress;
            (3) not be an agency or establishment of the United States 
        Government; and
            (4) except as otherwise provided in this Act, be subject 
        to, and have all the powers conferred upon a nonprofit 
        corporation by, the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation 
        Act.
    (b) Nongovernmental Employees.--No member or person employed by, or 
who is an agent for, the Board shall be considered to be an officer or 
employee of or agent for the Federal Government by reason of such 
service.

SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP AND OVERSIGHT.

    (a) Appointment.--The Board shall have seven members as follows:
            (1) All members shall be appointed by the President from 
        among individuals who have demonstrated expertise in 
        reinsurance matters and shall serve at the pleasure of the 
        President.
            (2) A majority of the members of the Board shall be 
        selected from among the lists of individuals having reinsurance 
        regulatory expertise that may be submitted to the President by 
        any State insurance regulatory authority or any association 
        representing such authorities, subject only to the submission 
        of multiple such lists and the inclusion in each list submitted 
        of a reasonable number of names of individuals.
    (b) Terms.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 
        member of the Board shall be appointed for a term of seven 
        years.
            (2) Terms of initial appointees.--As designated by the 
        President at the time of appointment, of the members of the 
        Board first appointed, one each shall be appointed for a term 
        of one year, for a term of two years, for a term of three 
        years, for a term of four years, for a term of five years, and 
        for a term of six years.
    (c) Oversight.--The President, or the President's designee, may 
prohibit or suspend the effectiveness of any action of the Board that 
the President or such designee determines, after advance public notice 
and comment where appropriate, is significantly contrary to the public 
interest.

SEC. 5. DUTIES.

    The duties of the Board shall be--
            (1) to establish standards and procedures to evaluate the 
        reinsurance supervisory systems of the States and foreign 
        jurisdictions in accordance with section 6;
            (2) to conduct such evaluations;
            (3) to certify, pursuant to section 6(c), reinsurance 
        supervisory systems that comply with such standards;
            (4) to facilitate the development of uniform standards for 
        regulation of reinsurance;
            (5) to perform such other duties or functions as the Board 
        determines are necessary or appropriate to carry out this Act; 
        and
            (6) to establish the budget and manage the operations of 
        the Board and the staff of the Board.

SEC. 6. EVALUATION AND CERTIFICATION OF REINSURANCE SUPERVISORY 
              SYSTEMS.

    (a) Standards.--The Board shall establish uniform standards for 
reinsurance supervisory systems of States and foreign jurisdictions 
that ensure that any such system that complies with such standards 
provides adequate capital and risk management standards and an 
acceptable level of prudential supervision over reinsurers domiciled in 
such State or jurisdiction.
    (b) Procedures.--The Board shall establish procedures for any 
entity to make a request for evaluation of the reinsurance supervisory 
system of a State or foreign jurisdiction to determine compliance of 
such system with the standards established by the Board pursuant to 
subsection (a). Such procedures shall provide that an evaluation shall 
be conducted only upon payment to the Board of a fee in the amount 
established pursuant to subsection (c).
    (c) Fees.--The Board shall establish a fee for conducting 
evaluations under this section in the amount such that the aggregate of 
fees collected covers all costs of conducting evaluations under this 
section and all other costs of the establishment and operation of the 
Board.
    (d) Certification.--If, upon conducting of an evaluation under this 
section with respect to the reinsurance supervisory system of any State 
or foreign jurisdiction, the Board determines that the system complies 
with the standards established pursuant to subsection (a), the Board 
shall certify such compliance and publish notice and evidence of such 
certification in an appropriate manner. Such certification shall be 
effective for a term of 12 months from the date of initial 
certification.
    (e) Public Notice and Comment.--In developing standards, 
procedures, and fee levels pursuant to subsections (a) through (c) and 
making determinations pursuant to subsection (d), the Board shall 
provide appropriate advance public notice and opportunity for public 
comment.

SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF CERTIFIED REINSURANCE SUPERVISORY SYSTEMS.

    (a) Credit for Reinsurance.--The domiciliary State of a ceding 
insurer may not treat a reinsurer domiciled in any other domestic or 
foreign jurisdiction differently from reinsurers domiciled and in good 
standing in such domiciliary State for the purpose of determining 
credit for reinsurance for that ceding insurer, if--
            (1) the domestic or foreign jurisdiction is certified 
        pursuant to section 6(d); and
            (2) the reinsurer is in good standing in such other 
        jurisdiction.
    (b) Preemption of Inconsistent State Laws.--All laws, regulations, 
provisions, or other actions of a State are preempted to the extent 
that they are inconsistent with subsection (a).

SEC. 8. FACILITATION OF UNIFORM REINSURANCE STANDARDS.

    (a) Development of Proposed Standards.--The Board shall 
periodically develop proposed uniform standards to improve various 
aspects of reinsurance regulation, particularly where a domestic or 
international consensus standard or conflict of law has emerged.
    (b) Reporting of Proposed Standards.--The Board shall report any 
standards proposed under subsection (a) to the appropriate State and 
Federal entities, including proposed enacting or implementing language, 
as appropriate.

SEC. 9. POWERS OF BOARD.

    In addition to any other authority granted to the Board in this 
Act, the Board shall have the power--
            (1) to sue and be sued, complain and defend, in its 
        corporate name and through its own counsel, with the approval 
        of the President, in any Federal, State, or other court;
            (2) to conduct its operations and maintain offices, and to 
        exercise all other rights and powers authorized by this Act, in 
        any State, without regard to any qualification, licensing, or 
        other provision of law in effect in such State (or a political 
        subdivision thereof);
            (3) to lease, purchase, accept gifts or donations of or 
        otherwise acquire, improve, use, sell, exchange, or convey, all 
        of or an interest in any property, wherever situated;
            (4) to hire employees, professionals, and specialists, and 
        elect or appoint officers, and to fix their compensation, 
        define their duties, determine their qualification, and give 
        them appropriate authority to carry out the purposes of the 
        Act; and to establish the personnel policies and programs for 
        the Board relating to conflicts of interest, rates of 
        compensation, and such other matters as the Board considers 
        appropriate;
            (5) to allocate, assess, and collect fees established 
        pursuant to section 6(c); and
            (6) to enter into agreements, incur liabilities, and do any 
        and all other acts and things necessary, appropriate, or 
        incidental to the conduct of its operations and the exercise of 
        its obligations, rights, and powers imposed or granted by this 
        Act.

SEC. 10. RULES AND BYLAWS.

    The Board shall establish such rules and bylaws as the Board 
determines necessary--
            (1) to provide for the operation and administration of the 
        Board, the exercise of its authority, and the performance of 
        its responsibilities under this Act;
            (2) to permit, as the Board determines necessary or 
        appropriate, delegation by the Board of any of its functions to 
        an individual member or employee of the Board, or to a division 
        of the Board, including functions with respect to hearing, 
        determining, ordering, certifying, reporting, or otherwise 
        acting as to any matter; and
            (3) to otherwise carry out this Act.

SEC. 11. CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    The Board shall coordinate with other Federal and State agencies as 
necessary to assist and advise the Board in performing its duties under 
this Act.

SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Board.--The term ``Board'' means the Reinsurance 
        International Solvency Standards Evaluation Board established 
        by section 2.
            (2) Ceding insurer.--The term ``ceding insurer'' means an 
        insurer that purchases reinsurance.
            (3) Domiciled.--The term ``domiciled'' means, with respect 
        to an insurer or reinsurer, to be incorporated or entered 
        through, and licensed.
            (4) Domiciliary state.--The term ``domiciliary State'' 
        means, with respect to an insurer or reinsurer, the State in 
        which the insurer or reinsurer is domiciled.
            (5) Insurance.--The term ``insurance'' means any product, 
        other than title insurance, defined or regulated as insurance 
        by the appropriate State insurance regulatory authority.
            (6) Reinsurance.--The term ``reinsurance'' means the 
        assumption by an insurer of all or part of a risk undertaken by 
        another insurer.
            (7) Reinsurance supervisory system.--The term ``reinsurance 
        supervisory system'' means, with respect to a State or foreign 
        jurisdiction, the agency, board, commission, or other entity 
        that has primary regulatory authority over the business of 
        reinsurance for the State or jurisdiction.
            (8) State.--The term ``State'' means the States of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, any other territory 
        or possession of the United States.
            (9) State insurance regulatory authority.--The term ``State 
        insurance regulatory authority'' means, with respect to a 
        State, the officer, agency, board, commission, or other entity 
        of a State that has primary regulatory authority over the 
        business of insurance for the State.

SEC. 13. LOAN FOR INITIAL FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--Upon the initial appointment of all of the members 
of the Board, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make a direct loan to 
the Board of $10,000,000, which shall be available only for use for 
operational and administrative costs of the Board in carrying out its 
duties under this Act.
    (b) Terms.--The loan under this section shall--
            (1) be repaid not later than the expiration of the 5-year 
        period beginning upon the making of the loan; and
            (2) bear interest at the annual rate of interest paid under 
        marketable obligations of the United States having comparable 
        maturities and most recently issued by the Secretary of the 
        Treasury before the making of the loan under this section.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations for Costs.--There is authorized 
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the costs (as such 
term is defined in section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 
(2 U.S.C. 661a)) of the loan under this section.
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