Hon. Michael G. Oxley: “the LaFalce amendment would strike down any ability of a State to regulate bank affiliated insurance agents. I want to…”

“the LaFalce amendment would strike down any ability of a State to regulate bank affiliated insurance agents. I want to make that very clear. The gentleman from Minnesota stated quite the opposite, that this amendment would provide functional regulation. I would challenge him on that. For example, if a bank-affiliated insurance agent commits fraud by representing health care coverage, for example, the result of this amendment offered by the gentleman from Minnesota and the gentleman from New York would mean that we would have virtually no regulatory authority whatsoever at the State level. Now, if we believe in functional regulation and we believe strongly that State insurance regulators have the ability to regulate insurance, then we have to oppose this amendment. The State insurance regulators have indicated very strongly that they believe this amendment would be catastrophic. It would go beyond the fact that we would have no discrimination, but it would result in no regulation at all. Now, those of us who believe in State regulation and functional regulation also believe, I think, that the States are the laboratories for democracy.”