Section 107 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 (the “Reauthorization Act”) requires the Secretary of the Treasury (“Secretary”) to conduct a study of the certification process required under in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, as amended (“TRIA”) and submit a report of the study results to Congress. To assist the Secretary in conducting the study and formulating the report, the Federal Insurance Office (“FIO”) issued a request for public comment, on the following items:
- The establishment of a reasonable timeline by which the Secretary must make an accurate determination on whether to certify an act as an act of terrorism;
- The impact that the length of any timeline proposed to be established may have on the insurance industry, policyholders, consumers, and taxpayers as a whole;
- The factors the Secretary would evaluate and monitor during the certification process, including the ability of the Secretary to obtain the required information regarding the amount of projected and incurred losses resulting from an act which the Secretary would need in determining whether to certify the act as an act of terrorism;
- The appropriateness, efficiency, and effectiveness of the consultation process required under section 102(1)(A) of TRIA and any recommendations on changes to the consultation process;
- The ability of the Secretary to provide guidance and updates to the public regarding any act that may reasonably be certified as an act of terrorism;
- The manner and extent to which the certification timeline and the Secretary’s ability to make an accurate determination on whether to certify an act as an act of terrorism may be influenced by domestic or international law enforcement processes; and,
- The implications for insurers or policyholders if one or more events are certified as acts of terrorism but the aggregate, calendar-year insured losses do not exceed the amount required for Treasury to make payments for insured losses.
The written comments should also include: 1) the data or rationale, including examples, supporting any opinions or conclusions; 2) approaches and options respecting improvement of the certification process, if any; and, 3) any specific legislative, administrative, or regulatory proposals for carrying out such approaches or options.
Comments are due on or before March 6, 2015 and may be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.
This post written by Kelly A. Cruz-Brown.
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