Senate Confirms Woodall as Insurance Voting Member on Financial Stability Panel

The Senate has confirmed former Kentucky insurance regulator S. Roy Woodall for the one voting position on the federal Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) reserved for someone with insurance expertise. The term is for six years.

The FSOC is in charge of monitoring the financial system to guard against the failure of the largest and most interconnected bank holding companies and non-bank financial institution.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that the FSOC have one voting member with insurance background among its 10 voting members.

The insurance industry has supported Woodall’s nomination.

‘We are pleased that the Senate confirmed Mr. Woodall for this very important position,’ said Ben McKay, senior vice president of federal government relations, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. ‘The FSOC has been deliberating over rules for regulating nonbank financial institutions without the benefit of a voting insurance representative. Mr. Woodall brings extensive experience in the insurance sector and a deep understanding of the state insurance regulatory system.’

Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association (AIA), called Woodall ‘uniquely qualified’ to serve in this position.

“We look forward to Mr. Woodall being a strong voice in helping inform the other FSOC members on the distinctions between the property-casualty business model and other, bank-centric financial services. This will be especially critical as the FSOC deliberates on which non-bank financial firms it will designate as systemically important,’ said Pusey.

The FSOC has a total of 10 voting members. In addition to Woodall, they include the Treasury secretary, who chairs the panel, and the Federal Reserve chairman, the federal comptroller, the directors of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the National Credit Union Administration Board.

The panel also has five non-voting members, two of which are insurance representatives. Missouri Insurance Director John Huff represents the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) on the FSOC, while Michael McRaith, former Illinois insurance commissioner who is now the director of the new Federal Insurance Office (FIO) also sits on the panel. The other non-voting members represent the Treasury’s Office of Financial Research, a state banking regulator and a state securities commissioner.