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.

The Financial Stability Forum (FSF) was established in 1999, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, to promote international financial stability. The FSF uniquely brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability in major international financial centres, representatives from international financial institutions, representatives of international regulatory committees, and committees of central bank experts. Its role is to foster cooperation among authorities at a global level in identifying vulnerabilities and strains in the global financial system and developing strategies to reduce systemic risk.