Ever wonder how many state insurance regulators there are nationwide? Or how the state departments compare in size, number of staff, or budgets? Or how the states compare in collection of taxes, fees and assessments, fines and penalties or total revenue? The answers to these and many more questions can be found in Volume 1 […]
Many of us smiled – perhaps cynically – at the New York Times headline on May 20th: “Benjamin Lawsky, Sheriff of Wall Street, Is Taking Off His Badge.” The article included the semi-iconic rendering of “Johnny Lawsky” in old-west sheriff’s garb from The Village Voice cover in 2013. Place a black mask on that graphic […]
One of my favorite Peanuts car- toons is of Linus and Charlie Brown talking. Linus says, “Well Charlie Brown, you win some and you lose some!” Charlie Brown thinks about it and through his inimitable meek smile responds: “Gee, that would be neat!” The insurance industry, particularly in New York, can certainly empathize with Charlie […]
Although insurance industry players – companies and producers – are not exactly modern Luddites opposed to any technology advances, it is no secret that the industry usually lags behind in keeping up with an ever-chang- ing world. In an age where young people in the same room are more comfortable communicating via texting rather than […]
There were two recent, seemingly unrelated events involving NY’s superintendent of financial services – one in his capacity as the chief financial services regulator and one in his separate role as receiver of an insolvent insurer – that send strikingly opposite messages. First there was the very public castigation of the New York branch of […]
It is hard to miss the ads all over the airwaves and print media extolling the virtues of New York State as a great place to do business. Offering tax breaks, access to human and natural resources, friendly regulations, minimal red tape, the State spends tens of millions – yours and my tax dollars at […]
The insurance media sometimes does not know quite how to report on pronouncements by our fearless regulatory leader in New York. This is probably because so many of his statements are about “financial services” without distinction between industries, and insurance industry reporters are not always sure if he is including, excluding or consciously ignoring insurance. […]
There are a number of variations to an old saw comparing the messy legislative process with sausage making. A common current iteration observes that: “If you love the law or sausages you should never see either one made.” Given the vagaries of law-making mills, imagine the possibilities when relying on legislation to solve a simple […]
I received a number of calls recently from colleagues, including a couple of former NY insurance department employees, asking if I had seen the new report card on the effectiveness of each of the state insurance departments. Usually the conversation started out by the caller noting that California received an “F” and NY a “D”. […]
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” Edwin Land At this time of year we are bombarded by images of Mother Nature at her most traumatic and beautiful moments. Blizzards and ice storms mixed with bucolic and tranquil winterscapes. One of the more iconic seasonal images is of a youngster so […]
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