Insurer Hartford spent $520,000 in fourth quarter lobbying federal government

Hartford spent $520,000 lobbying gov’t in 4Q

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Insurer Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. spent $520,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby the federal government on insurance regulation reform, consumer protection rights and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

That’s down from the $690,000 the Hartford, Conn.-based life insurer spent in the year-ago period during the height of the financial crisis, and the $540,000 it spent in the 2009 third quarter.

Last year, the government gave six life insurers, including Hartford Financial, approval to tap its $700 billion bailout program. The company received $3.4 billion in funds in late June.

Hartford Financial also lobbied on issues including the National Insurance Consumer Protection Act, flood insurance, workers’ compensation, drywall safety, health care reform, retirement securities, taxes and financial regulatory reform.

In the October-December period, the company lobbied Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Labor Department, according to the report filed Jan. 20 with the House clerk’s office.

The Obama administration has proposed a series of measures to tighten the reins on financial institutions in hopes of preventing a recurrence of the crisis that struck both Wall Street and Washington in the fall of 2008.