Last week, through negotiations among the House of Representatives and Senate conferees on the financial services reform legislation, agreement was reached on the scope of a proposed insurance office within the U.S. Treasury Department to be led by a newly appointed Director.

The Senate Banking Committee, in its press release on progress on the draft legislation, reported that the new office would be called the Federal Insurance Office, the name selected in the House version of the measure. This office would monitor the insurance industry, undertake a study on ways to modernize insurance regulation and provide recommendations to Congress.