McCarran-Ferguson Act

Public Law 79-15
McCarran-Ferguson Act
by the 79th Congress of the United States

Pub.L. 79−15, 59 Stat. 33, S. 340, enacted March 9, 1945.

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Chapter 20.⁠Properly refered to also as the ``Act of March 9, 1945´´.
Note: This is the original legislation as it was initially enacted. Any subsequent amendments hosted on Wikisource may be listed using What Links Here.

79^TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS
1^ST SESSION

An Act
To express the intent of the Congress with reference to the regulation of the business of insurance.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

That the Congress hereby declares that the continued regulation and taxation by the several States of the business of insurance is in the public interest, and that silence on the part of the Congress shall not be construed to impose any barrier to the regulation or taxation of such business by the several States.

Sec. 2.[edit]

(a)

The business of insurance, and every person engaged therein, shall be subject to the laws of the several States which relate to the regulation or taxation of such business.

(b)

No Act of Congress shall be construed to invalidate, impair, or supersede any law enacted by any State for the purpose of regulating the business of insurance, or which imposes a fee or tax upon such business, unless such Act specifically relates to the business of insurance:

Provided, That after January 1, 1948, the Act of July 2, 1890, as amended, known as the Sherman Act, and the Act of October 15, 1914, as amended, known as the Clayton Act, and the Act of September 26, 1914, known as the Federal Trade Commission Act, as amended, shall be applicable to the business of insurance to the extent that such business is not regulated by State law.

Sec. 3.[edit]

(a)

Until January 1, 1948, the Act of July 2, 1890, as amended, known as the Sherman Act, and the Act of October 15, 1914, as amended, known as the Clayton Act, and the Act of September 26, 1914, known as the Federal Trade Commission Act, as amended, and the Act of June 19, 1936, known as the Robinson-Patman Anti-discrimination Act, shall not apply to the business of insurance or to acts in the conduct thereof.

(b)

Nothing contained in this Act shall render the said Sherman Act inapplicable to any agreement to boycott, coerce, or intimidate, or act of boycott, coercion, or intimidation.

Sec. 4.[edit]

Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect in any manner the application to the business of insurance of the Act of July 5, 1935, as amended, known as the National Labor Relations Act, or the Act of June 25, 1938, as amended, known as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, or the Act of June 5, 1920, known as the Merchant Marine Act, 1920.

Sec. 5.[edit]

As used in this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the several States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

Sec. 6.[edit]

If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected.

Approved March 9, 1945.

Notes[edit]

Codified to: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-20
See related: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-93