Acting N.Y. Regulator Named to Head NAIC Life Committee

Acting New York Insurance Superintendent Kermitt J. Brooks is stepping into another pair of his predecessor's shoes by taking leadership of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Life Insurance and Annuities Committee.

The NAIC Executive Committee selected Brooks, who has led the New York department since Eric Dinallo stepped down July 3, to also replace the former superintendent as committee chairman. While serving as Dinallo's deputy, Brooks oversaw the state's life insurance sector, according to the department.

The Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee oversees working groups devoted to annuity disclosure, indexed annuities and the suitability of annuity sales. Other committee priorities include overseeing the development of the principles-based reserving system for life insurance companies, and reviewing and considering changes to the NAIC's Annuity Disclosure Model Regulation.

Brooks recently announced that his department will hold public hearings statewide on the suitability of the sales of life and annuity products during August and September.

"The financial crisis has shown the strength of state insurance regulation. I look forward to working with my fellow state regulators as we continue to protect policyholders and address the challenges facing financial services in this economy," Brooks said in a statement.

New York Gov. David A. Paterson has not said whether he will name Brooks to fill the superintendent's post on a permanent basis.

"Life insurance is a major industry both nationally and in New York. As a leading investor in this state and in this country's economy, it provides jobs while its products provide security for families everywhere," Paterson said in a statement.

While serving under then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Brooks led an investigation into employee benefit insurance, which resulted in settlements with the nation's largest group disability and insurance carriers and forced a major group insurance broker to refund to clients undisclosed payments made to brokers (BestWire, July 2, 2009). He previously worked as counsel in the law department at Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in 1998 and as an associate in the commercial litigation group at Nixon, Peabody LLP from 1989 to 1998, according to the department.