Consumer Advocate to NAIC: Open the Curtains

The Innovation, Cybersecurity and Technology Committee is holding a regulator-only session “because the discussion or action contemplated will include: specific companies, entities or individuals, including, but not limited to, collaborative financial and market conduct examinations and analysis,” according to the preliminary agenda.

The NAIC perspective: The NAIC noted that a longstanding policy statement on open meetings calls for the NAIC’s committees, subcommittees, task forces and working groups to conduct business openly.

The policy “does not apply to roundtable discussions, zone meetings, commissioners’ conferences and other like meetings of the members,” according to the policy statements.

Other open meeting exclusions include sessions involving pending investigations of the NAIC or NAIC members, sessions involving potential or pending litigation or sessions involving specific companies, entities or individuals.

“Because not all situations requiring a regulator-to-regulator discussion can be anticipated at the time a meeting is scheduled, a meeting convened in open session can move into regulator-to-regulator session,” according to the policy statement.

Birnbaum’s perspective: Birnbaum noted that some NAIC bodies that are working on sensitive, highly technical issues, such as bodies that develop insurance accounting rules are holding public meetings, while other, similar bodies are holding regulator-to-regulator sessions.

“The main purpose of NAIC national meetings is for regulators to interact with stakeholders,” Birnbaum said.

When the NAIC holds regulator-only sessions, that eliminates regulatory-stakeholder interactions, he said.

He said one concern is the NAIC’s role as an organization that shapes public policy but is also a private organization that is not directly subject to the same public meeting requirements that would apply to governmental organizations.