By Steven A. Morelli, Senior Editor

The National Association for Insurance Commissioners will be making its headquarters at the NAIC’s Washington, D.C., office for its incoming CEO, Therese M. (Terri) Vaughan.

The NAIC will retain its full complement of 377 staff members in its Missouri office, said NAIC President Roger Sevigny, who is also the New Hampshire insurance commissioner.  The D.C. office has 16 staff members, with projections to add at least a few more, Vaughan said at a media teleconference. Vaughan will officially start the job on Feb 18.

Vaughan said a key initiative for her will be setting up a Center for Insurance Information in the D.C. office to help advise lawmakers and federal agencies.
“We plan to increase the number of subject matter experts in D.C. and increase the level of our activity in Washington,” Vaughan said.

 The center is not related to the Office of Insurance Information (OII), which is part of a bill proposed by Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., according to Scott Holeman, NAIC communications director. The NAIC has been involved in the development of the proposal, with the association taking an advisory role, according to the plan.

A frequent NAIC ally, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), has said it opposed the OII proposal and NAIC’s involvement. NCOIL and others have criticized the OII proposal as a half-step to federal regulation.

In response to a question about support for the OII, Sevigny said the NAIC is setting up the Center for Insurance Information because the association strongly believes in the concept.

On the subject of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently approved Rule 151A to regulate indexed annuities as securities, Vaughan said she would defer to Iowa Commission Susan Voss, who is also the NAIC vice president and vocal in the opposition of Rule 151A. 

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Vaughan said among other initiatives she will be focusing on are modernizing insurance regulation and “harmonizing” U.S. and international standards.

Vaughan replaces Catherine J. Weatherford, who left the NAIC in July 2008.

Andrew Beal, who served as acting executive vice president and CEO in the interim, will become chief operations officer and in charge of the Kansas City office.

Vaughan had been the Robb B. Kelley Distinguished Professor of Insurance and Actuarial Science at Drake University since 2005. Before that she had been the Iowa insurance commissioner for 10 years.

The NAIC will not release information on Vaughan's salary and compensation, Holeman said.

Steve welcomes comment at smorelli@insurancenewsnet.com.

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