[M048]

McCarran-Ferguson Act

Enacted on March 9, 1945, a law by which Congress granted authority to the states to continue to tax and regulate the business of insurance (after the insurance business had been held by the Supreme Court to be commerce in a landmark case in 1944, and, therefore, subject to federal regulation whenever subject to interstate regulation). The act provided further that the antitrust laws should not apply to the extent the business of insurance is regulated by the states, except for coercion, intimidation and boycott. Also known as Public Law 15 (79th Congress, 1945. McCarran-Ferguson Regulation Act: 15 U.S.C. 1011-15).

(See Southeastern Underwriters Association (SEUA).)