[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18374-18376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06423]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Comments in Aid of Analyses of the Terrorism Risk Insurance 
Program

AGENCY: Departmental Offices, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) created the 
Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (Program) to address disruptions in 
the market for terrorism risk insurance, to help ensure the continued 
availability and affordability of commercial property and casualty 
insurance for terrorism risk, and to allow for the private markets to 
stabilize and build insurance capacity to absorb any future losses for 
terrorism events. The Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) administers 
the Program, with the assistance of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO). 
Treasury requests comments from interested parties regarding some of 
the issues that FIO will be analyzing in connection with its next 
report related to the participation of small insurers in the Program, 
including any competitive challenges such insurers face in the 
terrorism risk insurance marketplace.

[[Page 18375]]


DATES: Submit comments on or before May 12, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov, or by mail to the 
Federal Insurance Office, Attn: Richard Ifft, Room 1410 MT, Department 
of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220. 
Because postal mail may be subject to processing delays, it is 
recommended that comments be submitted electronically. If submitting 
comments by mail, please submit an original version with two copies. 
Comments should be captioned with ``2023 TRIA Small Insurer Study 
Comments.'' Please include your name, group affiliation, address, email 
address, and telephone number(s) in your comment. Where appropriate, a 
comment should include a short Executive Summary (no more than five 
single-spaced pages).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Ifft, Senior Insurance 
Regulatory Policy Analyst, Federal Insurance Office, Room 1410 MT, 
Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20220, at (202) 622-2922 (not a toll-free number), Sherry Rowlett, 
Program Analyst, Federal Insurance Office, at (202) 622-1890 (not a 
toll free number), or Annette Burris, Senior Insurance Regulatory 
Policy Analyst, Federal Insurance Office, at (202) 622-2541 (not a toll 
free number). Persons who have difficulty hearing or speaking may 
access these numbers via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay 
Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Section 104(h) of TRIA \1\ directs the Secretary, beginning in 
calendar year 2016, to ``require insurers participating in the Program 
to submit to the Secretary such information regarding insurance 
coverage for terrorism losses of such insurers as the Secretary 
considers appropriate to analyze the effectiveness of the Program[.]'' 
This information and data includes information regarding: (1) lines of 
insurance with exposure to such losses; (2) premiums earned on such 
coverage; (3) geographical location of exposures; (4) pricing of such 
coverage; (5) the take-up rate for such coverage; (6) the amount of 
private reinsurance for acts of terrorism purchased; and (7) such other 
matters as the Secretary considers appropriate.
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    \1\ Public Law 107-297, 116 Stat. 2322, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
6701, note. As the provisions of TRIA (as amended) appear in a note, 
instead of particular sections, of the United States Code, the 
provisions of TRIA are identified by the sections of the law.
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    In addition, Section 108(h) of TRIA requires the Secretary to 
conduct, by June 30, 2017 and every other year thereafter, a study of 
small insurers (to be defined by the Secretary, as has been done under 
31 CFR 50.4(z)) participating in the Program to identify any 
competitive challenges that small insurers face in the terrorism risk 
insurance marketplace. Section 108(h) also identifies specific matters 
that Treasury is to analyze in the small insurers study. In addition to 
the data that Treasury has previously collected and will be collecting 
in the future, Treasury seeks comments from the public for use in the 
study that Treasury must conduct concerning the participation of small 
insurers in the Program.

II. Solicitation for Comments on Small Insurer Participation in the 
Program

    As discussed above, Treasury will be collecting certain data from 
small insurers as part of its 2023 TRIP Data Call,\2\ which Treasury 
will use (along with data collected by Treasury during prior TRIP Data 
Calls) in connection with the study. Treasury welcomes comments 
concerning small insurer participation in the Program generally, and 
invites responses to the following particular issues specified in 
Section 108(h) of TRIA:
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    \2\ The 2023 TRIP Data Call has commenced. See Terrorism Risk 
Insurance Program Annual Data Collection, https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-institutions-and-fiscal-service/federal-insurance-office/terrorism-risk-insurance-program/annual-data-collection.
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    (1) Changes to the market share, premium volume, and policyholder 
surplus of small insurers relative to large insurers.
    (2) How the property and casualty insurance market for terrorism 
risk differs between small and large insurers, and whether such a 
difference exists within other perils.
    (3) The impact of the Program's mandatory availability requirement 
under Section 103(c) of TRIA on small insurers.
    (4) The effect of increasing the trigger amount for the Program 
under Section 103(e)(1)(B) of TRIA for small insurers.
    (5) The availability and cost of private reinsurance for small 
insurers.
    (6) The impact that state workers' compensation laws have on small 
insurers and workers' compensation carriers in the terrorism risk 
insurance marketplace.
    In addition, Treasury welcomes qualitative and quantitative 
comments on the following additional topics that may be relevant to the 
competitiveness of small insurers in the terrorism risk insurance 
marketplace.
    (1) Any potential constraints or market effects on the ability of 
small insurers to provide coverage for nuclear, chemical, biological, 
and radiological (NBCR) risks.
    (2) Any risk management strategies and challenges faced by small 
insurers in maintaining the ability to pay losses associated with 
insured claims that are not subject to claims for the federal share of 
compensation (e.g., losses below the Program Trigger, within the 
insurer deductible, and within the insurer co-pay share).
    (3) The effects, if any, on small insurer participation in the 
terrorism risk insurance marketplace of the 2019 reauthorization of the 
Program until December 31, 2027, under the sharing mechanisms in place 
as of Calendar Year 2020.\3\
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    \3\ See Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 
2019, Public Law 116-94, 133 Stat. 2534.
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    (4) The role of small insurers in covering cyber-related acts of 
terrorism under the Program, including any relevant developments in the 
cyber insurance market.
    (5) The role of small insurers in covering terrorism risk under the 
Program for Places of Worship.\4\
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    \4\ As defined in Treasury's TRIP Data Calls. See, e.g., 
Instructions for Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIP) 2023 Data 
Call Small Insurers at 22, located at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-institutions-and-fiscal-service/federal-insurance-office/terrorism-risk-insurance-program/annual-data-collection.
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    (6) The use of risk modeling techniques and other analytical tools 
by small insurers to assess their risk exposure to losses within the 
scope of the Program.
    Treasury issued its first three studies of small insurers under 
TRIA in June 2017,\5\ June 2019,\6\ and June 2021.\7\ In those studies, 
Treasury addressed the statutory issues identified above, with 
reference to data collected by Treasury in the TRIP Data Calls, as well 
as other available sources. Treasury requests further comment on these 
issues from

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interested parties, particularly with respect to any issue that an 
interested party believes may not be fully evident solely by reference 
to the aggregated data collected by Treasury.
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    \5\ U.S. Treasury, Study of Small Insurer Competitiveness in the 
Terrorism Risk Insurance Marketplace (June 2017), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/311/Study_of_Small_Insurer_Competitiveness_in_the_Terrorism_Risk_Insurance_Marketplace_%28June_2017%29.pdf.
    \6\ U.S. Treasury, Study of Small Insurer Competitiveness in the 
Terrorism Risk Insurance Marketplace (June 2019), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/311/2019_TRIP_SmallInsurer_Report.pdf.
    \7\ U.S. Treasury, Study of Small Insurer Competitiveness in the 
Terrorism Risk Insurance Marketplace (June 2021), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/311/2021TRIPSmallInsurerReportJune2021.pdf.

Steven E. Seitz,
Director, Federal Insurance Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-06423 Filed 3-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AK-P