H.R. 3437 — Insurance Data Protection Act

This section expands confidentiality protections under the Federal Insurance Office's (FIO) data collection authorities by (1) extending them to the sharing of nonpublic data and information with or by the FIO among other federal agencies, state insurance regulators (or their agents), or other entities; (2) clarifying that privileges under the expanded subparagraph (A) apply to certain disclosures; and (3) specifying that exceptions under the referenced U.S. code section apply. (The FIO collects and analyzes insurance sector data to monitor market conditions and support Treasury policy development; thus, these changes broaden nondisclosure requirements for shared information.)

This section limits the subpoena authority of the Office of Financial Research by excluding insurance companies (as defined in section 201(a) of the Financial Stability Act of 2010) from the financial companies to which it may issue subpoenas. (Thus, the Office may no longer compel production of records from such insurance companies.)

This section amends the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to add a new section 181 on treatment of data collected from insurance companies by financial regulators (i.e., SEC, CFTC, FSOC, federal banking agencies, OFR) from covered entities (i.e., nonbank financial companies that are insurance companies). It (1) requires financial regulators to coordinate with relevant federal agencies, state insurance regulators, other regulatory agencies, and publicly available sources before collecting such data and to obtain it from those sources if available timely, or else to comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. ch. 35) for direct collection; (2) authorizes those agencies and regulators to provide the data notwithstanding other laws; (3) provides confidentiality protections, including non-waiver of federal or state privileges, continuation of prior confidentiality agreements, and information-sharing agreements with state insurance regulators that comply with federal law without affecting privileges; and (4) applies the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), including its exceptions, to data submitted by covered entities. It also makes a conforming amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act table of contents.