Florida Signs Insurance Regulation Pact with United Kingdom

July 22, 2009

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) have agreed to work
together on issues that affect insurance consumers in the U.K. and the U.S.

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the OIR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formally committing to work together on sharing information and coordinating regulatory duties. This agreement follows a similar MOU the OIR entered into with the German regulator BaFin in June.

McCarty said that the OIR and the FSA - the integrated financial services regulator for the banking, insurance and securities sector of the U.K. economy - have regularly cooperated with each other but this agreement will give each regulatory agency formal authority to request assistance of the other for verification, investigation and examination of issues related to regulated companies under one or the other's purview. It establishes a formal basis for consultation, cooperation and coordination between the FSA and the OIR, and it provides for the exchange of information relevant to each agency's supervisory, regulatory and examination responsibilities.

"The longstanding link between Florida and the U.K. insurance market is one of the key facets of our marketplace," said McCarty. "In our increasingly volatile globalized market, a proactive approach to regulatory cooperation is critical for our responsibilities regarding the monitoring of financial solvency and general policyholder protection."

According to the OIR, the U.K. plays an important role in providing reinsurance capacity for Florida domestic insurers. Florida companies require in excess of $20 billion from private reinsurers, 18 percent of which comes from Lloyd's of London.

In July 2008, McCarty accompanied Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on his a trade mission during which the commissioner met with the chairman of Lloyd's of London and several other U.K.-based regulatory agencies. McCarty said that the bilateral agreement was first discussed with colleagues from the FSA at this meeting.