Representatives of the United States House of Representatives and Senate attending the reconciliation conference on H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, have come to an agreement on the streamlined regulation of multistate surplus lines insurance policies.

According to media sources, the agreed upon provision states that with regard to a surplus lines policy covering risks in multiple states, the home state of the insured (i.e.,  the state of the insured’s principal place of business) shall be the state that governs the policy.  Therefore, only the insurance regulator of the insured’s home state will regulate the premium tax allocation, eligibility standards, and diligent search requirements for the particular policy.

The effective date of this provision will be one year from when President Obama signs the bill into law.  House and Senate conferees plan to have the reconciled bill finalized by June 28th, with a signing by July 4th.