Risk Retention Groups

Congress authorized the creation ofrisk retention groups (RRG)a groupof similar businesses that creates itsown insurance company to insure itsriskto increase the affordability andavailability of commercial liabilityinsurance. Through the Liability RiskRetention Act (LRRA), Congresspartially preempted state insurancelaws to allow RRGs licensed in onestate (the domiciliary state) to operatein all other states (nondomiciliarystates) with minimal additionalregulation. In a 2005 report(GAO-05-536), GAO noted concernswith the adequacy of RRG regulation.This report (1) describes changes inthe financial condition of the RRGindustry from 2004 to 2010;(2) examines the regulatory treatmentof RRGs across domiciliary andnondomiciliary states; and(3) examines changes to federal andstate regulatory practices regardingRRGs since 2004. GAO analyzedRRG financial data, surveyed stateinsurance regulators (96 percentresponse rate), and interviewed RRGindustry representatives.