Sen. Scott Leads Letter to Treasury Regarding International Insurance Capital Standard Negotiations

Targeted News Service (Press Releases)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 -- Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, issued the following news release:

Today, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), along with Senator Mike Rounds, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and 27 Senators lead a bipartisan letter to Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin, urging members of Team USA to seek a clear pathway to formal recognition of the U.S. insurance regulatory system as "comparable" or "outcome equivalent" to the ICS. Additionally, they call on members of Team USA to oppose adoption of the reference International Capital Standard (ICS), if the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) fails to formally and publicly accept changes with respect to the ICS that reflect these parameters. This letter is in response to the Senate Banking Committee hearing in September on "Developments in Global Insurance Regulatory and Supervisory Forums."

"...We appreciate your [Sec. Mnuchin] public statements about the importance of a clear path to "comparability" prior to the formal vote on adoption of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS 2.0) at the IAIS annual conference in Abu Dhabi in November. The parameters provided by Team USA should provide permanent guardrails and guarantee a clear pathway to formal recognition of the U.S. insurance regulatory system as "comparable" or "outcome equivalent" to the ICS."

"...Given the fundamental differences that exist between the U.S. state-based approach and that of the ICS, the determination of whether the U.S. approach is outcome equivalent to the reference ICS must necessarily be a principle-based or even a political determination, and not the result of a quantitative assessment. We are opposed to delaying that determination to the end of the five year monitoring period: delay leaves too much to chance. That is why your continued strong support is so critical to an acceptable outcome."

Scott was joined on the letter by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), David Perdue (R-GA), Angus King (I-ME), John Hoeven (R-ND), Margaret Hassan (D-NH), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), James Inhofe (R-OK), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), John Boozman (R-AR), John Barrasso (R-WY), Todd Young (R-IN), John Boozman (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Mike Braun (R-IN), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Roger Wicker (R-MI), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Jeanna Shaheen (D-NH).