[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 561 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 561

Expressing the sense of the Senate that recently proposed measures that 
will reduce transparency and public participation at the International 
 Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) should be disapproved by 
               United States representatives to the IAIS.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 18, 2014

    Mr. Heller (for himself and Mr. Tester) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that recently proposed measures that 
will reduce transparency and public participation at the International 
 Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) should be disapproved by 
               United States representatives to the IAIS.

Whereas the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) 
        establishes global insurance standards that the United States and other 
        countries are expected to implement and are graded on their compliance 
        with;
Whereas heretofore, the procedures of the IAIS were relatively transparent for 
        observers;
Whereas, on August 4, 2014, the IAIS proposed eliminating public observers from 
        its meetings starting on January 1, 2015, significantly reducing the 
        transparency of its activities and only allowing certain parties to 
        attend;
Whereas representatives of United States consumer advocacy organizations have 
        just recently been admitted as observers;
Whereas the IAIS proposed procedures would provide far less transparency and 
        participation than the procedure afforded to interested stakeholders in 
        the United States by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners 
        (NAIC);
Whereas maximum transparency produces the best regulation and the proposed 
        procedures will reduce transparency; and
Whereas United States State insurance regulators who currently provide the 
        largest portion of funding to the IAIS have already publically expressed 
        opposition to the proposed reduction in IAIS transparency: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the International Association of Insurance Supervisors' 
        (IAIS) proposed procedures will reduce transparency and access 
        to IAIS supervisory standard development by United States 
        stakeholders including those representing consumers;
            (2) the proposed procedures specifically authorize the 
        unfair and unequal treatment of interested parties by allowing 
        the IAIS to selectively admit certain parties and exclude 
        others at key meetings;
            (3) all representatives of the United States at the 
        International Association of Insurance Supervisors should 
        oppose these new procedures and instead advocate more 
        transparency and public inclusion by the IAIS;
            (4) should the IAIS adopt the proposed procedures or any 
        similar reductions in transparency, United States 
        representatives to the IAIS should make all appropriate efforts 
        to ensure that proper transparency is restored; and
            (5) all United States representatives to the IAIS should 
        work to ensure that their activities are transparent to 
        Congress and United States stakeholders, and that United States 
        representatives to the IAIS should regularly communicate with 
        United States stakeholders through timely comprehensive 
        reporting and in-person discussions.
                                 <all>