The establishment of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers – recently passed by Congress and signed into law as part of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act renewal – is underway.
First steps were taken late last week as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners submitted to the White House a list of state insurance commissioners to be considered as members of the NARAB governing board.
The 14 submitted candidates will be evaluated by the White House, which is charged with nominating a governing board of 13 people, eight of whom must have a regulatory background.
NAIC members included in the nomination had previously expressed interest in being appointed to the governing board. They include:
- Al Redmer, Jr., Maryland
- Chester A. McPherson, District of Columbia
- John D. Doak, Oklahoma
- Raymond G. Farmer, South Carolina
- Tom Glause, Wyoming
- Wayne Goodwin, North Carolina
- Adam Hamm, North Dakota
- Ralph T. Hudgens, Georgia
- John M. Huff, Missouri
- Dave Jones, California
- Monica J. Lindeen, Montana
- Stephen W. Robertson, Indiana
- Roger A. Sevigny, New Hampshire
- Lori Wing-Heier, Alaska
Once established, NARAB will create standards insurance producers must meet in order to business in other states , supplementing the current system, which asks producers to meet requirements in their home state and every other state in which the wish to operate.
Supporters of the legislation say NARAB would simplify licensing procedures and reduce costs. According to an analysis from the National Association of Independent Financial Advisors, producers currently spend about 29 hours a year and $225 in licensing costs in order to meet requirements.
While most industry leaders expressed pleasure at NARAB’s congressional passage, some stress there are still a number of unanswered questions relating to the board’s effect on the industry and on producers specifically.
Tim Owen, vice president of product management at Vertafore, works with 23 state insurance departments to build regulatory systems focused on producer licensing, among other areas. From that vantage point, he sees some hurdles the NAIC and others will have to face in their work to implement NARAB.
“There are a lot of operational and technological things we’ll have to figure out,” Owen told
Insurance Business America. “There could be regulatory implications, such as certain kinds of education that not all states require, that might make it a challenge for NARAB to streamline the licensing process.”
There are additional discrepancies, such as California’s background requirements, Georgia’s stipulation that an agent have an affidavit of citizenship and New York’s decision not to adopt the Producer License Model Act, that NARAB board members must clear up.
Industry figures suggest NARAB may be ready to start issuing producer licenses by 2017.
