FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Treasury Department today announced that Jeffrey S. Bragg, former Administrator of the Federal Insurance Administration during the Reagan Administration, has been named Executive Director of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIP), established under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002. He will begin work in early April.

As Executive Director, Mr. Bragg will be responsible for implementing the operational requirements of the Act and managing the TRIP program. He will direct TRIP staff, consultants and contractors; set operational guidelines and policies; and report on Program operations and results to Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Wayne A. Abernathy.

Mr. Bragg also will be responsible for ensuring that an appropriate mechanism for processing claims for Federal payments under the Program is in place and that the process is supervised appropriately to provide maximum protection for taxpayer resources and efficiency of operations. 

Under the Act, Congress established in the Department of the Treasury a temporary Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to administer the Program and pay the Federal share of compensation for insured losses under the Program. 

The purpose of the Program is to provide a transitional, transparent system of shared public and private compensation for insured losses resulting from acts of terrorism.  The program promotes economic growth by ensuring the continued widespread availability and affordability of property and casualty insurance for terrorism risk.  It is structured to provide a transitional period for private markets to develop mechanisms for the pricing of terrorism risk insurance, and build capacity and arrangements to diffuse the financial risks of any future losses, with consistent reliance upon state insurance regulation and consumer protections.

Mr. Bragg brings 25 years of experience in the insurance and insurance-related information technology industries, and has served in both the public and private sectors. As former Administrator of the Federal Insurance Administration during 1981-1986, he administered the National Flood Insurance Program, as well as the former Federal Riot Reinsurance Program and the former Federal Crime Insurance Program.

Most recently, Mr. Bragg has been Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Insurance Management Solutions Group, St. Petersburg, FL, an application software and business process outsourcing provider to insurance companies, since 1997.

Mr. Bragg’s other previous experience includes: Executive Vice President and Equity Investor for First Sun Personnel Consultants, Inc., Columbia, SC (1995-1997); Senior Vice President and Group Manager for Policy Management Systems Corp., Columbia, SC (1987-1995); and President and Chief Executive Officer for Home Owners Warranty Corp., Washington, DC (1986-1987). He also worked for Ohio Medical Indemnity Mutual (1976-1981), Nationwide Insurance (1973-1976), and served as a clerk in the Ohio House of Representatives (1971-1973). A native of Columbus, OH, Mr. Bragg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at Ohio State University in 1971.