Liberty Life’s Black Named South Carolina Commissioner

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley wants David Black, a former executive with Liberty Life Insurance Co., to be the state’s next insurance commissioner.

Black served as president and CEO of Liberty Life Insurance Co. from 2004 to 2010. He served in various capacities at the Liberty Corp. in Greenville from 1982 to 2000.

Liberty Life, based in Greenvile, was part of the Royal Bank of Canada, which last year announced it was selling the company for $628 million to Athene Holding Ltd.

If confirmed by the state Senate, Black would succeed current Insurance Director Scott Richardson, a former GOP state senator who has been in the post for four years.

Black is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and Clemson University. He has also served on the board of directors for the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

Gov. Haley called Black “both highly qualified and highly recommended.”

She said Black understands that the insurance department “can and should be an economic development agency, and that the agency must be as customer friendly and as pro-business as possible. ”

“We want to do all we can to be pro-business in this state,” Black said at the announcement ceremony with the governor. “You can’t have economic growth and jobs if you don’t have capital and capital preservation and creation. ”

He said the insurance industry is “instrumental” in creating that capital.