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August 15, 2005
Commissioner Mirel to Step Down
(Washington, DC) Lawrence H. Mirel, Commissioner of the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB), will be leaving the District Government at the end of September to return to private law practice. Mr. Mirel, who has served as Commissioner for more than six years, will be joining the Washington, DC, law firm of Wiley Rein and Fielding, LLP, on October 3.
"I leave the District Government with real regret," Commissioner Mirel said. "It has been a great privilege to be part of the Williams Administration during the revitalization of this wonderful city."
Mr. Mirel was appointed Commissioner of Insurance and Securities Regulation by Mayor Anthony A. Williams in July of 1999. Banking regulation was added to his portfolio in March of 2004 when the former Department of Banking and Financial Institutions was combined with his agency to create the current Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. Commissioner Mirel has sought to promote the District of Columbia as a major financial center, along the lines of other national capital cities such as London, Paris and Tokyo. As part of that effort he worked with the Mayor and DC Council to create a captive insurance program that has resulted in more than 50 captive insurance companies choosing to locate in the District of Columbia. Mr. Mirel also modernized the department to include state-of-the-art electronic processing of licenses for insurance companies, agents and brokers, securities brokers, mortgage lenders and the other financial services regulated by the department.
Commissioner Mirel has been very active in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), where he chaired the Industry Liaison Committee, the International Regulatory Cooperation Working Group, and the Class Action Litigation Working Group, among other assignments. Before becoming Commissioner, Mr. Mirel had been in private law practice and had also served in the early 1980's as General Counsel to the Council of the District of Columbia. Before that he had worked on Capitol Hill and for various federal agencies, and had taught law at both George Washington University Law School and the American University Law School.
Mr. Mirel has lived in the District of Columbia for more than 40 years. He is a native of Connecticut. He is married and has three grown children.
The DC Department of Insurance, Securities & Banking (DISB) has two overall missions: to provide fair, efficient, and fast regulatory supervision of financial service activities for the protection of the people of the District of Columbia; and to create conditions that will attract and retain national and international insurance, securities, banking and other financial services businesses to the District. |
