Last month, Big “I” Board member Angela Ripley was selected as a member of the Insurance Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC) at the Federal Reserve Board. Earlier this week, she attended the committee’s inaugural meeting in Washington, D.C.

The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 established the IPAC to provide information, advice and recommendations to the Federal Reserve Board on domestic and international insurance issues, including negotiations at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act granted the Federal Reserve very limited regulatory authority within the insurance sector. It regulates Depository Institution Holding Companies with insurance operations and insurance companies designated as systemically important by the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council. As such, the Federal Reserve is a member of IAIS and the Financial Stability Board which was formed by the G20 to promote reform of international financial regulation and supervision.

The committee is made up of 21 members with various professional backgrounds in insurance accounting, actuarial science, academia, insurance regulation, policyholder advocacy, capital markets and other areas. It will meet twice a year going forward. Initial IPAC members will serve staggered terms ranging from one to three years. Ms. Ripley was fortunate to draw a three-year term.

Ripley has served as Big “I” Government Affairs Committee chair since 2017 in addition to her position on the national Board of Directors of the Big “I.” She is president of VW Brown Insurance Service in Columbia, Maryland. She has also been Maryland state InsurPac chair since 2011.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to apply my insurance experience and passion to guiding the Board on broad policy decisions,” says Ripley. “Honesty, integrity and dedication have been the driving forces in my career. I will seek to foster these principles during my time on the Committee and look forward to representing the interests of the Big ‘I’ in promoting and protecting the state regulatory system during my service.”

The IPAC’s first meeting included discussion pertaining to the multi-year effort by the IAIS to develop a group-wide, risk-based insurance capital standard (ICS 2.0) as a part of its Common Framework for the Supervision of Internationally Active Insurance Groups. 

As reported in September, ICS 2.0 is set to be implemented in two phases, including a five-year “monitoring period” at the end of which the IAIS will assess whether it considers the U.S. approach to be “outcome equivalent.” 

The Big “I” has concerns with the current ICS 2.0 proposal because it is not compatible with the U.S. system and would result in negative consequences for U.S. markets and ultimately, U.S. consumers.