NEW YORK -- New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo agreed today with executives who said yesterday that some sort of federal insurance regulation is likely on the horizon, based on the general mood in Congress.

Mr. Dinallo, speaking at the 20th Annual Executive Conference for the Property-Casualty Industry presented by National Underwriter Company and sponsored by Ernst & Young and Dewey & LeBoeuf, said he thought there was a "very strong likelihood that we're heading to some kind of federal role in the insurance industry."

The superintendent, who testified before Congress yesterday concerning credit default swap regulation, also indicated that he is not fiercely opposed to the idea outright, and he called aspects of state regulation "clunky," especially with respect to form development and agent registration.