Michael McRaith, insurance director at the Illinois Department of Insurance, was named the first leader of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO).

Michael T. McRaith

The FIO, part of the U.S. Treasury Department, will provide information to Congress about insurance activity and serve as the main conduit for the U.S. in international insurance matters.

“We expect he will serve as capably and professionally as the new director of FIO as he did as Illinois’ top insurance regulator,” said Dirk Kempthorne, president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, in a statement.

Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association, called McRaith “an experienced regulator, having served as the director of insurance for Illinois and in various capacities in connection with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

“As director of the FIO, it will be vitally important for him to bring this expertise to bear in helping assure that the U.S. and global insurance regulatory systems are both effective and efficient and support vibrant and competitive private insurance markets.”

Pusey pledged that the AIA is “committed to working with him in his new capacity to achieve those objectives so critical to the welfare of the U.S. and other countries.”

McRaith’s appointment, made by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, also drew support from The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit organization committed to free-market solutions.

McRaith is “smart, competent, and up to the job before him,” said Eli Lehrer, vice president of Washington, D.C., operations for The Heartland Institute and national director of its Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate.

“He has presided over one of the country’s better insurance regulatory systems and does a good job,” Lehrer added in a statement.