OFC: Is It Really Just Overkill?

In addition to the growing doubt as to whether the states can realistically take the actions necessary to correct the various shortcomings inherent in the current state-based insurance regulatory system, recent discussion of the need for federal intervention has highlighted two areas in addition to the regulation of domestic insurance matters where a federal presence appears critical-regulation involving international insurance matters, and creation of a federal insurance/reinsurance information entity to support the activities of Congress and of the Treasury and other departments in the Executive Branch of the federal government. The paper proposes a system of insurance regulation that both overcomes the numerous criticisms of the current state-based regulatory system, and achieves the purported advantages of an optional federal charter (OFC) system, but without the creation of the type of dual federal-state regulation envisioned in the current OFC legislation. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]