John Garamendi

  • garamendi.house.gov
  • 1991-1995 - California Insurance Commissioner
  • 1995-1998 -  U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior 
  • 2003-2007 - California Insurance Commissioner
  • 2007-2009 - Lieutenant Governor of California
  • 2009-Current - House of Representatives Member
  • ELIC – Executive Life – California
  • 1991 0511 - The Los Angeles Times - Insurance Firm Operations Cut by Garamendi, by Daniel M. Weintraub and Kathy M. Kristof - [link-BonkNote]
    • Halting what he describes as  a run on the bank," State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi placed severe operating restrictions on First Capital Life Insurance Co. but stopped short of seizing the troubled firm. 
  • Executive Life Insurance Failure, Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)  ---  [BonkNote]
    • [PDF-145p-GooglePlay, VIDEO-CSPAN]
    • John Garamendi - California - Insurance Commissioner
    • Salvatori Curiale - New York - Superintendent Insurance
    • House - Committee on Ways and Means - Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measuress
    • (p26) - Pete STARK (D-CA) The only thing I think we can do better than the States is pay, and I am not sure we can do that much better than a rich State like California or New York.
      • But I am suggesting that if we are called upon to pay, that perhaps at that point we could reasonably require some minimum asset standards, to insure the integrity of the assets, so we would not have to pay again and again and again.
      • John GARAMENDI, California Insurance Commissioner - That, of course, is coupled with regulation, and here is the case where my State fell down and did not carry out its regulatory responsibilities.
        • In fact, I suspect for most of America, the 1980s, the deregulation period, when the mantra of deregulation was preached in most every hall in America-the result of that is now the debacle of the 1990s, the S&Ls, the banks and now some parts of the insurance companies.

    • The subcommittee heard testimony on the failure of the Executive Life Insurance Company, the largest life insurance company to date to suffer financial collapse.
    • Mr. Garamendi documented the growth and collapse of the life insurance company, which relied on investments in high yield junk bonds to finance the high yields on its products.
    • Executive Life had invested $6.4 billion in the junk bond market, 60 percent of its assets.
    • Following the collapse of the junk bond market, and the subsequent collapse of Executive Life Insurance Company, 200,000 policy holders in Executive Life are unsure of their insurance coverage.
    • Mr. Garamendi said some or all Executive Life Insurance policy holders may have to take a loss if the company can be saved.
    • The committee examined the regulatory policies that failed in the collapse of the Executive Life Insurance Company, the methods being used to attempt to restructure the company, and methods that may prevent similar collapses in the future.
  • 1992 0218 - GOV (Senate) - Causes and Implications of Insurance Company Failures, CSPAN - Executive Life Insurance Failure, Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI)
    • [PDF-425p-GooglePlayVIDEO-CSPAN->Not on govinfo.gov
    • Senate - Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 
    • ⇒  on the Concerns about the Financial Condition of the Insurance Industry, the Adequacy of Regulatory Supervision, as Well as the Sufficiency of Policyholder Protection Provided by Insurance Guarantee Funds
    • 1992 0218 - GAO - Insurance Regulation: The Failures of Four Large Life Insurers, Testimony Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs United States Senate, Statement of Richard L. Fogel, Assistant Comptroller General, General Government Programs - 21p
    • NAIC - John Garamendi, California Insurance Commissioner - Testimony - 5p