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Morelle Reappointed Chair of NCOIL Financial Services Committee
Assemblyman Joseph D. Morelle, D-Irondequoit, this past weekend was reappointed chairman of the Financial Services and Investment Products Committee of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL).
Specifically, Morelle has focused on credit default swaps (CDS), highly complex financial instruments that protect investors in the instance of a bond default or other negative credit event. Since CDS act as a form of insurance, Morelle has argued that they should be subject to the same regulatory standards as traditional insurance products.
Lack of such controls led to the near-collapse of American International Group, the largest insurer in the world, a major seller of CDS, and to date the recipient of more than $180 billion in federal bailout funds.
"Clearly, the issues raised since 2008 are very much with us, and I hope to continue the work we've begun in terms of protecting investors and the general public through the enactment of commonsense rules for insurance and the broader financial markets," Morelle said. Morelle, who has held the position since December 2008, also chairs the Assembly's Committee on Insurance. NCOIL is composed of state lawmakers from around the country whose goal is to preserve and improve state-based regulation of the insurance industry.
"Insurance is the largest sector of our economy regulated by state government, and this oversight has more than proven its value during a time of economic and financial turbulence," Morelle said. "NCOIL's mission is a critical one, and I'm grateful to the membership for their continued support."
In his capacity as NCOIL committee chair, Morelle has testified before Congress about the need for public oversight of the multi-trillion dollar derivatives market and has authored model legislation calling for state regulatory authority over that element of the financial system. Many analysts consider derivatives to be a major source of the Wall Street crash of 2008 that deepened the national recession and sent New York State into fiscal crisis.
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