New York State Insurance Department

The New York State Insurance Department (NYSID) was the former state agency responsible for supervising and regulating all insurance business in New York State.[1] It was regarded in the industry as one of the most state-of-the-art insurance regulatory agencies.

Effective October 3, 2011, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature consolidated the New York State Insurance Department and the New York State Banking Department and created the New York State Department of Financial Services.[1][2]

History

Until 1849, insurance companies doing business in New York State were chartered by special acts of the New York State Legislature.[1] In 1849, the Legislature passed a law requiring prospective insurance companies to file incorporation papers with the New York Secretary of State.[1] The law also vested regulatory power over insurance companies with the State Comptroller, who was authorized to require the companies to submit annual financial statements and to deny a company the right to operate if capital securities and investments did not remain secure.

In 1859, the New York State Legislature created the New York State Insurance Department, and assumed the functions of the Comptroller and Secretary of State relating to insurance.[1] The Department began operations in 1860 and William F. Barnes was the first Superintendent of Insurance.[1] The Home Life Insurance Company based in Brooklyn, New York was the first life insurer to be authorized by the newly formed New York State Insurance Department in 1860. Superintendent Barnes supervised the filings of 155 fire insurance companies and 16 life insurance companies during his first year in office.[1]

By the 1870s, each state regulated insurance in some manner and most had an insurance department or agency.[1] However, because different state requirements led to confusion in the insurance industry, New York State Superintendent George W. Miller, in 1871, invited the heads of insurance departments or agencies from other states to meet in New York to strive for more uniform regulation.[1] Eighteen states met that year for the first session of what is now the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC").[1]

Mismanagement in the life insurance business, including exorbitant salaries and questionable investments, resulted in a 1905 investigation led by Charles Evans Hughes.[1] The investigation, known as the "Armstrong Investigation", led to the passage of a law that set forth a series of reforms, including mandatory periodic examinations of all life insurers.[1]

During the Great Depression, the Insurance Department promoted new rules clarifying insurer investment requirements, setting more equitable determination of cash surrender values and forfeitures, and recognizing up-to-date values and improvements in mortality tables.[1] They also carried out liquidations, such as the 1934 liquidation of the Consolidated Indemnity and Insurance Company.[3]

After World War II, the Insurance Department pioneered many consumer protections, including comprehensive mandated health insurance benefits, open enrollment, and prohibitions against insurers arbitrarily dropping an individual's health insurance coverage.[1]

The New York State Insurance Department was the first insurance department or agency in the United States to establish a capital markets group to examine and measure the risks in insurer investment practices, and was the first state to recognize the importance of segregating multiple lines insurance from financial guaranty insurance as a means of preventing systemic risk.[1]

In 2001, New York was the first state to establish an Insurance Emergency Operations Center ("IEOC"), which was designed to accelerate disaster assessments and expedite claims payments to disaster victims.[1] The IEOC helped New Yorkers recover from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

During the financial crisis of 2008, the Insurance Department helped stabilize financial guaranty insurers and worked with federal regulators to ensure that AIG did not collapse when it experienced a liquidity crisis.[1]

In 2011, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature consolidated the New York State Insurance Department and the New York State Banking Department and created the New York State Department of Financial Services.[1][2] James J. Wrynn was the fortieth and last Superintendent of Insurance.[4] Following the creation of the New York Department of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky (2011–2015) and Maria Vullo (2016--) were each appointed and confirmed as Superintendent of Financial Services thereby assuming the powers and duties formerly held by the Superintendent of Insurance.

List of Superintendents

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Superintendent	Took office	Left office	Party	Notes
William Barnes Sr.	January 12, 1860	February 5, 1870
George W. Miller	February 4, 1870	May 12, 1872
George B. Church	May 13, 1872	November 28, 1872
Orlow W. Chapman	November 29, 1872	January 31, 1876
William Smyth	February 1, 1876	February 20, 1877
John F. Smyth	February 21, 1877	April 26, 1880
Charles G. Fairman	April 27, 1880	April 22, 1883
John A. McCall	April 23, 1883	December 31, 1885
Robert A. Maxwell	January 1, 1886	February 11, 1891	Democrat
James E. Pierce	February 12, 1891	February 10, 1897	Democrat	two terms
Louis F. Payn	February 11, 1897	February 1, 1900
Francis Hendricks	February 2, 1900	May 16, 1906	Republican	two terms
Otto Kelsey	May 17, 1906	January 13, 1909	Republican
Henry D. Appleton	January 14, 1909	February 17, 1909
William H. Hotchkiss	February 18, 1909	February 18, 1912
William T. Emmet	February 21, 1912	April 1, 1914
Frank Hasbrouck	April 2, 1914	June 30, 1915
James S. Phillips	July 1, 1915	October 31, 1921
Henry D. Appleton	November 1, 1921	November 30, 1921
Francis R. Stoddard, Jr.	December 1, 1921	June 30, 1924
James A. Beha	July 1, 1924	December 31, 1928
Albert Conway	January 1, 1929	July 30, 1930
Thomas F. Behan	July 1, 1930	February 16, 1931
Henry A. Thellusson	February 17, 1931	March 4, 1931
George S. Van Schaick	March 5, 1931	March 10, 1935
Louis H. Pink	May 10, 1935	January 31, 1943
Robert E. Dineen	September 23, 1943	June 30, 1950
Alfred J. Bohlinger	July 1, 1950	January 31, 1955
Leffert Holz	February 3, 1955	March 15, 1958
Julius S. Wikler	March 17, 1958	January 26, 1959
Thomas Thacher	January 27, 1959	October 2, 1963
Samuel C. Cantor	October 3, 1963	January 27, 1964
Henry Root Stern	January 28, 1964	December 31, 1966
Richard E. Stewart	January 1, 1967	December 31, 1970
Benjamin R. Schenck	January 1, 1971	March 10, 1975
Lawrence W. Keepnews	March 18, 1975	April 21, 1975
John P. Gemma	May 8, 1975	June 23, 1975
Thomas A. Harnett	June 24, 1975	July 20, 1977
John F. Lennon	July 21, 1977	January 4, 1978
Albert B. Lewis	January 5, 1978	March 7, 1983
James P. Corcoran	March 9, 1983	January 26, 1990
Wendy Cooper	January 27, 1990	July 1, 1990
Salvatore R. Curiale	July 1, 1990	December 31, 1994
Edward J. Muhl	February 14, 1995	December 29, 1996	Republican
Neil D. Levin	April 1, 1997	April 5, 2001	Republican
Gregory V. Serio	May 9, 2001	January 17, 2005	Republican
Howard Mills III	May 18, 2005	December 31, 2006	Republican
Louis W. Pietroluongo	January 1, 2007	January 28, 2007
Eric R. Dinallo	January 29, 2007	July 3, 2009	Democrat
Kermitt J. Brooks	July 4, 2009	August 18, 2009	Democrat
James J. Wrynn	2009	2011	Democrat

References

1. [History, About Us, New York State Department of Financial Services, retrieved on March 5, 2012, at http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/history.htm New York State Department of Financial Services website]
2. Part A of Chapter 62 of the Laws of 2011
3. "Liquidation Is Ordered", The New York Times, May 30, 1934, pg. 31.
4. James J. Wrynn, Deputy Superintendent of Financial Services, Leadership, About Us, New York State Department of Financial Services, retrieved on March 5, 2012, at http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/staff_bios/jwrynn.htm