Mortgage banking lobbyist joins insurance fight
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading lobbyist for mortgage bankers who fought to keep delinquent homeowners from seeking refuge in bankruptcy court is opening the first government-affairs shop for a large insurance company.
Erick Gustafson has left the Mortgage Bankers Association to join Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. as the insurance industry prepares for what is expected to be a years-long legislative battle over optional federal insurance charters.
Gustafson spent many of his five years at the MBA pushing for legislation that would reform oversight of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) as well as modernize the Federal Housing Administration - the government's largest homebuyer aid program.
In July, President George W. Bush signed a sweeping housing bill that included reform of all those agencies.
"The insurance industry has a challenge similar to what the lending industry had - the importance and virtues of reform," Gustafson said. "I'm used to a long fight."
U.S. insurers are advocating for the choice of operating under a federal charter. The industry is chiefly regulated at the state level currently.
At the Mortgage Bankers Association, Gustafson was key in the mortgage industry's defeat of a provision debated in Congress earlier this year that would have let delinquent homeowners seek relief from their mortgage payments through a bankruptcy filing.
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. is a global professional services firm that advises in the areas of risk, strategy and human resources. It is the parent company of a number of the world's leading risk experts and specialty consultants, including Marsh, the insurance broker and risk advisor.
Gustafson is tasked with opening the company's government-relations shop in Washington.
(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Diane Craft)
