Actuarial T NOV 2 0 0 9 H E N E Financial Regulation Takes Cues From Crisis YEar AFTER THE coLLAPSE OF LEHMan Wang used visual representations to track the infla- wsmonth BroTHErs and the subsequent stock market tion of the housing bubble earlier in the decade. The steep A meltdown, President Obama went to Wall Street to rise in home values, he explained, corresponded to lower prepare the financial industry for tighter regulation. With interest rates at the turn of the century and an increase Washington policymakers finally ready to address financial shortly after in overall loans issued by non-government- regulation and its role in preventing future financial crisis, sponsored enterprises—of which subprime loans consti- the Academy hosted a briefing Sept. 29 on Capitol Hill to tuted a disproportionate percentage. Insurers’ exposure to discuss lessons learned from the aftermath of the housing mortgages, the study concluded, didn’t change much over bust and eventual economic upheaval. the past 15 years, but the quality of those mortgages may L Y The Academy teamed up with the Society of Actuaries have, as government bonds and agency-guaranteed obli- (SOA) to present the results of an SOA study released earlier gations have given way to increased corporate bonds and in the month. The study, sponsored by the SOA’s Committee private-label or non-agency mortgage-backed securities. of on Finance Research and the Joint Management Section of While some groups may have tended to generally in- the SOA, Casualty Actuarial Society, and Canadian Institute vest more aggressively than others and some insurance of Actuaries, looked at the impact of the financial crisis on holding companies took on disproportionately large mort- th insurers as a result of the industry’s mortgage investments. gage exposures through structured credit instruments, During the briefing, Shaun Wang, professor at Geor- insurance regulations appear to have served the industry E A gia State University and coauthor of the SOA paper, con- and its consumers well throughout the crisis. firmed that the study determined the primary cause of the “The life insurance industry has always had significant ex- financial crisis to be the “widely held belief that housing posure to mortgages,” Wang said, “but we found little evidence M prices couldn’t decline significantly on a national basis.” that the industry as a whole chased the real estate bubble.” E That misplaced confidence was exacerbated by second- Wang noted the paper’s finding that key regulatory struc- rican ary causes such as a complex and ineffective regulatory tures protected the insurance industry, including strict regu- UPDATE regime, incentive problems in the originate-to-distribute lation of derivatives developed by the National Association model for securitization, and overreliance on credit rat- of Insurance Commissioners that prevented some insurers ings by market participants and regulators. SEE , PAGE 9 HILL BRIEFING A Antitrust Hearing Challenges Exemption cad Academy Testimony Defends Consumer Protection Regulations caDEMY MEMBER JAMES HURLEY testi- E fied in an Oct. 8 House judiciary subcommittee M Ahearing on the effects of removing health insur- Y ance and medical professional liability insurance from an antitrust exemption currently granted to the insurance of industry. As a corollary to health insurance reform pro- posals being debated in Congress, the House Judiciary A Committee’s Courts and Competition Policy Subcommit- tee hosted the hearing to discuss a measure in the pro- ctuari posed Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 3596) that would remove the exemp- tion given to insurance companies from federal prosecu- tion of antitrust violations for activities considered part of insurance business. The bill prohibits companies from engaging “in any form of price fixing, bid rigging, or mar- E ket allocations.” James Hurley testifies to a House subcommittee on behalf of S the Academy’s Medical Professional Liability Subcommittee. SEE HOUSE TESTIMONY, PAGE 10 4 5 7 8 NAIC Wrap-up Show of Strength New Officers Refining Definition Revised standard valuation Outgoing president asks Academy officers join CAS syllabus change law passes at fall meeting actuaries to come together the board prompts concern over NAIC requirement CALENDAR NOVEMBER 1-4 ASPPA annual conference, National Academy NEws Briefs Harbor, Md. 1-4 CCA annual meeting, Tucson, Ariz. 9-12 Life and Health Qualifications Annual Meeting Seminar (Academy, SOA), Arlington, Va. 12-15 IAA meeting, Hyderabad, India he AcademY hosted its 2009 annUAL meetinG Oct. 26 in Boston. At the meeting, 15-18 CAS annual meeting, Boston new Academy officers assumed their roles, including new President Ken Hohman, President- 19-23 NCOIL annual meeting, New Telect Mary Frances Miller, and Vice Presidents Henry Siegel (risk management and financial Orleans reporting), Ethan Kra (pension), and Art Panighetti (life). New Academy Directors Ron Gebhardtsbauer, DECEMBER Mary D. Miller, Dave Neve, and Tom Wildsmith were elected. (For a photo spread of the 2009-10 Acad- John Purple 2-3 Academy P/C Loss Reserve Opinion emy board, see page 6.) Meanwhile, the Academy handed out its Robert J. Myers Award to Seminar, Baltimore and its Jarvis Farley Service Award to Donald Segal. For in-depth coverage of the annual meeting, 2-3 ASB meeting, Washington check out the December Update. 5-8 NAIC winter meeting, San Francisco 8 Academy Executive Committee meeting, Washington ASB CLARIFIcaTION dard might require more for- bailout of the American 9 Qualification Standards audiocast The Actuarial Standards mal review. International Group. (Academy, CCA) Board (ASB) recently voted to 18 Academy webcast on ASOPs 36 and 43 add the word “significantly” MaNUALS COMING BaNK ChaNGE JanUarY in Section 3.4.1 of Actuarial The Academy is now accept- The Academy has recently Standard of Practice (ASOP) ing orders for its annual moved its banking operations 25-26 Actuarial collaboration meeting, Washington No. 44, Selection and Use of Life and Health Valuation from Harris Bank in Chicago 27 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, Asset Valuation Methods for Law Manual and Property to PNC Bank in Washing- Washington Pension Valuations, to make it and Casualty Loss Reserve ton. The move will result in 28 Academy Board of Directors meeting, clear that only significant bias Law Manual, reference tools increased services, reduced Washington needs to be disclosed. Since designed to help appointed costs, and enhanced systems March the ASB was clarifying the actuaries comply with integration. In addition to 3-6 IAA meeting, Capetown, South Africa original intent of the ASOP, National Association of other banking services, PNC 7-12 International Congress of Actuaries, rather than modifying it, no Insurance Commissioners will take over the Academy’s Capetown, South Africa exposure of this clarifica- regulations. lockbox and credit card pro- tion is needed, and given the cessing operations. The Acad- APriL deadline for pension reports, DERIVATIVES emy’s new lockbox address is: 11-14 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting such exposure would be ScRUTINIZED American Academy of Actuar- (Academy, CCA), Washington counterproductive. On Oct. 21, the House Agri- ies, P.O. Box 824093, Philadel- 15 Academy Executive Committee meeting, Washington ASOP No. 44 was issued as culture Committee passed phia, PA, 19182-4093. Addi- a new standard in September an amended version of H.R. tional dues payment details MAY 2007, with an effective date of 3795, which would move all and address change reminders 19 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, March 15, 2008. Since then, trading of derivatives to a will be provided in the future. Washington practitioners using the new public exchange if the trades 20 Academy Board of Directors meeting, IN ThE NEWS Washington standard have done so in the are between financial institu- context of events that have tions. The Over-the-Counter An actuarial analysis of the AUGUst included an extreme market Derivatives Markets Act of Community Living Assis- 2-3 Acturial Collaboration Meeting downturn and the implemen- 2009 previously passed the tance Services and Supports 10 Academy Executive Committee tation of new federal pension House Financial Services (CLASS) Act, a proposed fed- meeting, Washington legislation. The ASB Pension Committee on Oct. 15 by a eral long-term care program, Committee had been observ- vote of 43 to 26. H.R. 3795 performed by a joint work ing and listening to reactions and H.R. 977, introduced by group of the Academy’s Feder- to the new standard by prac- House Agriculture Commit- al Long-Term Care Task Force titioners and other persons tee Chair Collin Peterson and the Society of Actuaries’ interested in the selection and (D-Minn.), were introduced Long-Term Care Insurance use of asset valuation methods in response to last year’s Section Council was discussed for pension valuations, and largely unregulated credit in a Sept. 3 Fortune article. Links to documents underlined in blue it will continue to do so in its default swaps trading that led Steve Schoonveld, a member are included in the online version of this issue at www.actuary.org/update/ responsibility to determine if to the fall of Lehman Broth- of the joint work group and index.asp and when any pension stan- ers and the Federal Reserve chief financial officer of Life WWW. ACTUARY. ORG Actuarial UPDATE NOVEMBER 2009 2 MEDIA RELATIONS ACTIVITY REPORT—THIRD QUARTER, 2009 ➜ continuED from PAGE 2 Plans Inc. in Waltham, Mass., Ohio radio show “Retire- Three-Year Quarterly Average was quoted. The analysis was ment Matters.” Todisco Third Quarter, 2009 also mentioned in the Sept. 1 discussed seven sources of issues of Agent’s Sales Journal retirement security: Social and Investment & Financial Security, traditional de- Advisor Monthly. fined benefit pension plans, personal savings including 41 30 Requests 24 24 Interviews 207 260 Placements The Academy’s Consumer- defined contribution plans, Note: A request is a media inquiry for more information (e.g., statistics, comments, work Driven Health Plans Work health and long-term care products, etc.) or for media credentials to an Academy event.