Access to Insurance Initiative Newsletter 04/2019

Welcome to our monthly newsletter, where we update you on the work of the Initiative, inform you about events and publications, and share experiences and learning on inclusive insurance regulation and supervision across jurisdictions.

Follow us on Twitter @a2ii_org where we serve you news and updates on #inclusiveinsurance.

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#Didyouknow

Financial inclusion was the first development topic integrated into the G20 multi-year action plan on development. In 2010, through its partnership with the IAIS and supported by the IAIS-MiN Joint Working Group on Microinsurance (JWG), the A2ii introduced the topic of microinsurance into the financial inclusion action plan of the G20 Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion and the Financial Stability Board.

Recent events

G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Plenary Meeting

28-29 March 2019, Paris, France

In its role as an Affiliated Partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the A2ii participated in the first GPFI plenary meeting under the Japanese G20 Presidency. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) hosted the plenary and the meeting of the GPFI’s Regulation and Standard-Setting Subgroup.

Under the Japanese Presidency, the GPFI is developing a set of G20 Policy Priorities for Aging and Financial Inclusion. On the same topic and in light of increasing attention of supervisors to specific demographic groups, the A2ii is developing a survey to identify actions that supervisors have taken to facilitate access to insurance for excluded groups such as women, older people, youth, people with disabilities and people living in rural areas. This survey will be used to improve knowledge and understanding of actions (if any) currently taken by insurance supervisors to reach out to excluded groups.

Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) - Comité Général des Assurances (CGA) - IAIS regional seminar for insurance supervisors from francophone Africa and MENA region – Implementation of risk-based supervision: Experiences and lessons learnt

12-15 March, Tunis

Over 70 insurance supervisors gathered in Tunis to participate in a regional seminar on risk-based supervision. Panellists and participants discussed and exchanged experiences on topics such as enterprise risk management (ERM), own risk and solvency assessment (ORSA) as well as RegTech and SupTech.

The A2ii presented in a session on inclusive insurance, sharing an overview of regulatory issues relating to inclusive insurance development. Topics discussed included proportionality, regulating for innovation and index insurance. 

RegTech and SupTech – Implications for Supervision – A2ii- IAIS Consultation Call,

21 March, 2019

This consultation call explored the implications of automated systems and processes involving the current use of Regulatory Technology (RegTech) and Supervisory Technology (SupTech). The experts on the call covered key definitions of RegTech (technology deployed by insurers to support their regulatory compliance) and SupTech (technology deployed by regulators to support supervisory activities.) Examples of uses of SupTech and RegTech and areas where it can be deployed were given, as well as their benefits and challenges.

Anatol Monid from the Toronto Centre presented on the English calls and Andrea Camargo on the Spanish call.  They were joined by Jermy Prenio and Denise Garcia from the Financial Stability Institute who highlighted key findings from FSI Insights Paper No. 9 “Innovative technology in financial supervision (suptech) – the experience of early users.” Peter Thomas from the Bank of England and Todd Sells from NAIC shared experiences from their jurisdictions concerning the use of RegTech and SupTech.

For supervisors who couldn’t attend this call, the presentations of this call are available here. Keep an eye on our consultation call reports on our website here, where we will publish a summary. Supervisors can also direct questions on this topic to consultation.call@a2ii.org, and we will ensure your questions are addressed.

Upcoming events

15th Consultative Forum on Inclusive Insurance: Climate and disaster risk- building resilience, bridging the protection gap

7 May, Panama City, Panama

15th Consultative Forum provides a platform for dialogue between policymakers, insurance regulators, industry and supervisors, as well as the opportunity to meet with and learn from colleagues involved in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation from Latin America and other regions. The Forum will explore how different stakeholders can collaborate to reduce the protection gap and help to build resilience in the face of climate risk and natural disasters.

The forum is organised by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) and the Microinsurance Network (MiN). It will take place alongside the FSI – ASSAL – IAIS Regional Seminar for Insurance Supervisors of Latin America (8-10 May 2019) and will be hosted by the Superintendencia de Seguros y Reaseguros de Panamá and supported by the Association of Insurance Supervisors of Latin America (ASSAL).

For more information, please refer to the link here. To register, please follow this link.

Inclusive Insurance Training Programme for Supervisors in Asia

7 - 10 May, Bangkok, Thailand

The Inclusive Insurance Training Programme is jointly organised by the A2ii, the IAIS, the ASEAN Insurance Training and Research Institute (AITRI) and the Toronto Centre. The training will be hosted by the Office of Insurance Commission Thailand. For more information on the event please follow this link.

If you are a supervisor from the Asian region interested in attending the training, please complete this registration form.

Recent Publications

A2ii Annual Report is now available in Spanish and French.

Staffing Update

After her 1-year secondment with A2ii in 2016/17, we are delighted to welcome back Hui Lin Chiew who re-joined the A2ii in February 2019 as Advisor responsible for the Asia Pacific region.

Before A2ii, Hui Lin was the lead on inclusive insurance in Bank Negara Malaysia, where she worked on regulatory development, product assessments and business models such as mobile microinsurance and direct internet insurance.

Her responsibilities at A2ii include supporting the development of knowledge material for supervisors, particularly on the topics of InsurTech and regulatory impact.

In March we welcomed Mariella Regh. Mariella is the lead contact for the MENA region and francophone countries. She is responsible for the implementation of the online Self-Assessment and is supporting A2ii’s work on increasing women’s access to insurance.

Before joining the A2ii Mariella was working as an advisor for private sector development at GIZ. Prior to that she worked at AXA Germany’s Risk Management Unit that dealt with implementing regulatory requirements. Mariella holds a M.Sc. in Economics and Public Policy from Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and École Polytechnique. She is fluent in English, French and German, and also speaks some Spanish and Portuguese.