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John F. Finston has accepted an appointment to be deputy commissioner for Corporate & Regulatory Affairs at the California Department of Insurance.

Finston was the head of SNR Denton’s insurance regulation practice, with more than 30 years of experience in insurance regulatory, insolvency and transactional issues for insurance companies and their customers.

Finston will serve as a top advisor to the Insurance Commissioner on issues related to state, federal and international oversight of insurance and reinsurance. He will also manage and lead the department’s Corporate Affairs Bureau and will collaborate closely with the financial surveillance branch.

Willis North America has named Jason Richardson as regional partner of Northern California.

The appointment is effective immediately. Richardson will be based in San Francisco, Calif.

Richardson will oversee Willis’ offices in Northern California and be responsible for business development across the region. He will focus on strategic planning, client service and retention, recruiting and staff development.

Richardson joined Willis in 2009 and has more than 12 years of experience in the insurance industry. Richardson previously served as managing partner of Willis’ Colorado operations. Prior to that, he was a senior vice president at Beecher Carlson, and held leadership positions at Hilb Rogal & Hobbs.

Willis provides employee benefits and risk management solutions. Willis of Northern California includes operations in San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Concord.

RIMS (the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.) announced that Deborah M. Luthi will lead the society as president for the 2012 term.

Luthi is the enterprise risk manager for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. She has been a member of RIMS for nearly 32 years and on the board for 11 years.

Previously Luthi served as vice president and board liaison to the society’s finance committee and Spencer Educational Foundation committee.

She is a member of RIMS Golden Gate Chapter; as well as RIMS Sacramento Valley Chapter, which she helped to co-found in 1991.

Bend, Ore.-based RiskPoint Insurance Advisors, a commercial insurance agency, has named Matt Davis as director of employee benefits.

Based in Portland, Ore., Davis works with clients nationwide.

Davis has more than 20 years of insurance experience in capacities including customer service, medical management, sales and marketing. He has worked on the insurance carrier side and managed his own agency.

Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica J. Lindeen has appointed Adam J. Schafer as her deputy commissioner and chief of staff.

Schafer is a Billings native who most recently served as executive director for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators in Washington, D.C. He also served as secretary and then chief of staff for Democratic leaders in the state Senate during the 1999 and 2001 legislatures.

Lindeen said that Schafer’s legislative experience will help her office pass laws that improve consumer protection while ensuring that insurance and securities firms across the state can grow and create jobs.

He replaces B.J. Hoven, who served as interim deputy commissioner since June. Hoven will remain as Lindeen’s executive assistant.

Safeco Insurance named Diane Mitchell as the company’s new regional general manager for California.

During her time at Safeco, Mitchell has held a variety of roles. Most recently, she led Seattle, Wash.-based Safeco’s Seattle underwriting zone team, where she was responsible for all underwriting operations in support of the Northwest, Mountain and California regions

Safeco sells insurance to drivers and homeowners through a network of independent agents and brokers in eight regions throughout the United States. Safeco is part of Liberty Mutual Agency Corp.

Arizona-based national insurer Nautilus Insurance Group announced two promotions.

Raymond J. Hall has been promoted to vice president of marketing. Hall joined Nautilus in 2009, most recently serving as assistant vice president for underwriting Central region. His background includes underwriting and managerial positions, specializing in commercial underwriting. Hall has 15 years of industry experience.

Craig N. Williams has been promoted to vice president of underwriting Mountain region. Williams began his career at Nautilus in 2001, most recently serving as assistant vice president of underwriting Mountain region. His previous work experience includes various underwriting and managerial positions.

Nautilus Insurance Group is comprised of Nautilus Insurance Co. and Great Divide Insurance Co., member companies of W. R. Berkley Corp. The excess and surplus and specialty lines carrier is located in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Topics California Legislation Underwriting