State insurance laws impose restrictions and regulatory oversight on the control of insurance companies by parent companies and related entities. Such "insurance holding company" regulation, which has been in place since at least the early 1970s, constitutes a major focus of the U.S. insurance regulatory framework.

Historically the principal features of holding company regulation—as embodied in the Insurance Holding Company System Regulatory Act (the Holding Company Act), a model law—focused on touchpoints between an insurance company and its affiliates.