A New Wave.

As the National Association of Insurance Commissioners prepares for its summer national meeting June 10 through 14 in Orlando, Fla., members will be faced with a bevy of issues--some old, some new--that threaten to change the industry forever.

Insurance departments in all 50 states and the District of Columbia continue to feel the impact of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which redefined the financial-services market when it became law late last year.

With the Y2K scare a distant memory insurance companies are rushing to unleash the power of the Internet by offering services, such as online quoting and payments, and allowing agents and brokers to access information through dedicated intranets.

In the face of all these changes, state insurance regulators must reinvent themselves or risk becoming irrelevant.

In the cover feature, "Renaissance Regulators," (page 30), we focus on five insurance commissioners who are shaking things up in their home states and causing quite a stir at the national level, too,

They come from varied backgrounds and have risen through the ranks in different ways, but they share a common philosophy about how they approach their office.

"What you're seeing is a solid, free-enterprise, market-based philosophy," said John Marlow, public affairs director for the American Insurance Association's southwest region. "It allows them to be creative."

They'll need that creativity to contend with an industry defined by new laws and new ways of doing business--namely, through the Internet.

Two articles in this edition focus on issues that arise from doing business online. "Risky Business in Cyberspace" (page 143), looks at how insurers and brokers are identifying Internet risks, creating products to transfer them and underwriting the products successfully. Finding the perfect balance between protecting privacy and reaping the benefits of sharing personal information is explored in "The Great Privacy Debate" (page 134).

Our "renaissance regulators" and all NAIC members will be discussing these issues for years to come.

David Hilgen is editor.