U.S. insurers, eager to expand globally and tap new markets, are finding their efforts tripped up in many regions by local speed bumps in the form of legal or even unofficial regulatory hurdles.

The past 12 months have been "a very active year" in terms of trying to advance the industry's agenda on a global scale, according to David Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel for the American Insurance Association. "Companies are really interested in every part of the globe."

There continues to be a great deal of interest, Mr. Snyder noted, in increasing the industry's reach in major Asian markets, such as China, India and Korea. However, he added, there are still problems in some of these markets--mainly "protectionism in various guises, usually in the form of domestic regulations."