Banking on insurance: proposed legislation now making its way to the floor of the State House and Senate could open doors for more foreign-owned insurers to expand into South Florida

South Florida CEO, Sept, 2004 by Jaclyn Alcantara

Cornish believes this could also lead to greater opportunities for insurance companies such as John Hancock, Massachusetts Mutual, Met Life, and New York Life, which are currently operating and serving Florida's domestic market but would likely have global marketplace interests as well.

Mexico, Argentina and Brazil would likely be the richest sources of clients for the resulting expanded insurance market given the demographics of South Florida's population and current Latin American relations, Cornish says. "The big three of Latin America would certainly be the bulk of the business." But, he adds, clients could potentially come from anywhere in the world.

It is also the Beacon Council's contention that the "liberalization" of insurance regulations, as the group refers to it, would highlight "Florida's openness in the global economy. This is especially relevant due to Miami's bid to be the seat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Secretariat."

Jorge L. Arrizurieta, president of Florida FTAA Inc. agrees. "It really is important that we, as a state, send a message that Florida is open for business," he says, adding that anything that creates a freer trade environment is positive for South Florida.

"We in South Florida will obviously see a difference, but we don't think we're going to be the only ones," Fernety says. "We think Tampa and Jacksonville both will be positively impacted if this law is enacted, and we're looking at this as a job generator."