The U.S. insurance industry should be subject to federal regulation, the chief executive of Allstate Corp (ALL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the nation's largest publicly traded home and auto insurer, said on Wednesday.
Tom Wilson told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the insurance industry, which is currently regulated by the states, should be put in a similar pool of regulation as other large financial firms.
"Every large financial organization in the country should be in the pool," Wilson said. "I think our industry should be subject to federal regulation."
Wilson also said that although municipal bond insurers are not that large, they can have a big impact on financial markets.
"They clearly should be in the pool of regulatory reform," he said.
He also said Congress should take a staged approach to reorganizing the U.S. financial regulation system.
Congress should name a systemic risk regulator, but then wait to give it real responsibilities until lawmakers streamline the other financial regulators.
"I would kind of split the middle," Wilson said.
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