i-law.com - Newsletter (Insurance Regulation & Accounting)

Coming your way…

IR&A’s timetable is regularly updated to cover as many new developments as possible while also keeping an eye on events as they unfold. The first table incorporates the FSA’s agenda for consultations, discussion documents, thematic work or events of interest to insurers for 2006 and beyond. On the next page we list the events, papers and developments on the horizon from other bodies in the UK, Europe and internationally.

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Insurance supervisors must work together

Co-operation between international supervisors must intensify if supervision is to keep pace with the globalisation of the insurance industry, according to one of the US’s top bankers. In an address to a conference organised by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Roger W Ferguson, vice president of the Federal Reserve, said insurance regulators need to “have a good picture of the totality of risks that each insurance or reinsurance group is running”. In this extract, Mr Ferguson speaks about how maintaining financial stability will be a key challenge in the near future.

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Arrow II – better second time around?

From March this year firms subject to an ARROW review will find a very different approach has been adopted by the Financial Services Authority. In this article Patrick Devine, of law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, explains why the process has been updated and how the regulator’s assessment of firms’ risk management will become more of a two- way process in future.

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

FSA uses enforcement powers in broker case

The recent regulatory action taken against a London based broker was a key test of the Financial Services Authority’s general insurance regime, just over one year since it began. In this article, Chris Warren-Smith and Laura Cooke of law firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert explain the circumstances of Xsavi’s downfall, and the messages that the FSA’s actions hold for others in the market.

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Member states put in improved performance

The European Commission’s tough line on member states that fail to implement EU directives on time or correctly seems to be working. During the last six months of 2005, member states came closer to the target deficit rate set by the European Commission than ever before. In this article, IR&A looks at the data and finds that while the headline deficit rates have improved, progress on implementation of all the measures under the Financial Services Action Plan is slow, with only two of the older member states in full compliance.

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Briefly noted

▪ The European Commission is expecting more co- ordination and co-operation between member states’ financial services regulators in the near future, according to internal market commission Charlie McCreevy. Speaking on the priorities for..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Solvency II project needs industry input, FSA

UK insurance practitioners need to become more involved with the development of the Solvency II project, according to the UK’s top authorities HM Treasury and the Financial Services Authority. In a joint discussion paper on the principles that..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

IASB/FASB introduce roadmap for convergence

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has signed a memorandum of understanding with US standard setters, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), as part of its programme of convergence between international financial reporting..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

McCreevy hopeful of US date to end collateral rules

Charlie McCreevy, the European Commission’s head of internal market, waved the flag for foreign reinsurers servicing the US in a recent visit to the country. In an address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington in February, Mr..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

US to develop alternatives to collateral rules by end 2006

Hopes of a change in the US collateral requirements for foreign reinsurers reached an all-time high at the beginning of March when the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) discussed the issue at its Spring meeting and set a..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

CESR to monitor rating agencies’ code of conduct

Four of the major credit rating agencies have signed up to a voluntary framework that allows the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) to monitor their compliance with the IOSCO’s code of conduct. Fitch Ratings and Dominion Bond..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

FSA bans nine intermediaries

Nine small intermediaries have been banned from practising regulated activity after failing to submit the mandatory Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR) to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The regulator said it is the first time that it..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

London exceeds contract certainty targets

Some 65% of all contracts agreed during December were compliant with new London market contract certainty standards, according to the Market Reform Group, beating the target rate of 30%. The news comes as the Financial Services Authority (FSA)..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

FSA drops training rules for wholesale staff

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is handing over more control to wholesale companies by excusing them from training and competence rules. The FSA confirmed the decision as part of its general move towards a more principles-based approach to..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

FSA should make broker fee disclosures mandatory, survey

Corporate insurance buyers have backed mandatory disclosure of insurance broker commissions in a survey conducted by the International Underwriting Association (IUA) and the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA). According to the survey’s..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

FSAP measures could be detrimental to Europe, CSFI

The measures introduced under the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) over the past five years are “duplicative unnecessarily detailed and could even have the effect of producing less open markets than many members had before”,..

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Inquiry moves to next stage

The EC competition investigation is now seeking information from insurers

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006

Countdown to Solvency II

With less than one year before the EC publishes the final directive, UK insurers must get involved if the UK is to have any influence

Online Published Date: 01 April 2006

Appeared in issue: 35 - 01 April 2006