This week, the acting director of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO), Steven Seitz, was named permanent director of the office. He previously worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and joined the U.S. Department of Treasury’s office of the assistant general counsel, banking and finance in 2013. He moved to the FIO in 2014 to serve as deputy director.

Director Seitz has been acting director of the FIO since November 2018, when then-Director Steven Dreyer abruptly resigned after only five months on the job. He was also acting director for the year and a half that followed the resignation of the first FIO director, Michael McRaith, in Jan. 2017.

Over the last several years, PIA National has engaged with the FIO on issues like the terrorism risk insurance program, the status of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB), and legislation that would curtail FIO’s power.

PIA National is actively advocating for the repeal of the FIO because its existence is a threat to the successful state insurance regulatory system. In fact, PIA National was the first national association to call for the office to be repealed and has since been joined by others. PIA National has also developed legislation to fully repeal the office.

While PIA National will continue to advocate to repeal the FIO, we will also engage with Director Seitz to ensure independent agents have a voice in its work.