Property/casualty insurers continue to steer clear of participating in the Treasury Department’s billion Capital Purchase Program. Earlier this month, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), the American Insurance Association (AIA) and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) all indicated that their respective members did not need federal financial assistance.

In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg said “The insurance industry doesn’t need the program and doesn’t belong in it. The Capital Purchase Program (CPP) should only assist companies that pose systemic risk to the financial system resulting from counterparty failure, or a major liquidity crisis in the credit markets.” American Council of Life Insurers President Frank Keating issued an October 24 statement that said he was “pleased to learn the Treasury Department is now considering the inclusion of the life insurance industry in its Capital Purchase Program.”

“Some have argued that the life insurance segment of our industry needs the CPP. Some life insurers may want it -- but none of them needs it,” Greenberg said.

The Insurance Industry Doesn’t Need Subsidies (Wall Street Journal 10/31/08)

November 25, 2008