by: Mark A. Hofmann

Rep. Kanjorski has been particularly critical of the decision of AIG to go through with an event for independent life insurance agents who sell AIG products at a California resort shortly after AIG's parent company accepted $85 billion in federal loans.

In an Oct. 20 letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Rep. Kanjorski cited ''yet more frivolous excursions that AIG paid for after the federal government assisted the flailing company,'' including a hunting trip to England. In his letter, he called on the Fed to review an agreement between New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and AIG to account for all executive compensation as well as bring an end to corporate perks.

The Fed ''must'' review that agreement, ''compare it with the executive compensation standards'' in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act--which eliminates the tax deductibility of salaries in excess of $500,000 paid to executives of companies that tap federal bailout funds--''and impose the stricter of the two on AIG or any other company that receives a direct loan from the Federal Reserve in the future.''

On another insurance-related matter, several witnesses at Tuesday's Financial Services Committee said adoption of an optional federal charter for insurers should be part of any larger reform of financial services regulation.

''Congress should consider the creation of a federal insurance charter and a federal insurance regulator,'' said T. Timothy Ryan Jr., president and chief executive officer of the New York-based Securities Industry and Financial Markets Assn.

Steve Bartlett, president and CEO of the Washington-based Financial Services Roundtable, called state insurance regulation the ''last vestige of the 19th century.''