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Welcome! In this newsletter, we provide you with updates on the work of the Initiative, events and publications, and experiences and learning on inclusive insurance regulation and supervision across jurisdictions over the past month.

Follow us on Twitter @a2ii_org and LinkedIn and join the conversation on #inclusiveinsurance!

The A2ii taking precautionary measures related to COVID-19 (coronavirus)

To safeguard the well-being of the A2ii staff and its partners, the A2ii is cancelling or postponing all physical events originally planned for March through the end of August, and exploring the use of virtual formats when possible. Events that are scheduled to take place from September onwards are currently not affected by this policy. The A2ii will communicate any changes pertaining to our events on our website, social media channels and through our newsletter.

New at the A2ii
 

COVID-19 Insurance Supervisory Response Tracker

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through the world, countries and organisations are reacting in different ways. Our team has been following the developments closely, and to stay up to date on this topic, we have created a special page on our website dedicated to tracking supervisory responses.

It will be frequently updated with news (with a focus on insurance-related topics and world regions) and resources (such as webinars). Please feel free to share relevant news with us via secretariat@a2ii.org, by tagging Access to Insurance Initiative on LinkedIn or by mentioning us on Twitter.

A2ii Blog

We’re excited to share with you our newly launched blog, a collection of observations and analysis by the A2ii team and guest contributors.  We’re kicking off with a series of posts focusing on the ongoing COVID-19 challenges and implications for insurance supervisors:

Sustaining responsible regulatory response during Covid-19 crisis by Hannah Grant

Covid-19: On approaches to solvency requirements so far by Hui Lin Chiew

Covid-19: The response of the UK Financial Conduct Authority by Pascale Lamb

Covid-19: A new impetus to enable access to insurance for the most vulnerable by Andrea Camargo

As well as a special introductory contribution by IAIS’ Jonathan Dixon on the coronavirus implications for supervisors blog series

As always, we want to be a source of current and relevant resources for insurance supervisors. If you have a topic suggestion or proposal for our blog, please contact us at secretariat@a2ii.org.

A2ii-IAIS webinar series on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and implications for insurance supervisors

The A2ii, together with the IAIS, launched a new webinar series on the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for insurance supervisors. The first call in this series took place on 2 April 2020. It explored key messages from the IAIS members survey on supervisory responses to the crisis, the impact of COVID-19 on the insurance sector and implications for the inclusive insurance consumer. Dr. Manuela Zweimueller from the IAIS, Pascale Lamb, A2ii and Andrea Camargo, A2ii technical expert prepared and delivered the expert inputs across the calls.  Presentations will soon be available here. Keep an eye on our events page for more information about upcoming calls on 16 April, 30 April, and 28 May.

Recent Events

Regional Program for Francophone Insurance Supervisors

3-5 March, Saly-Portudal, Senegal

The A2ii delivered a workshop on the topic of “Implementation of the proportionality principle in inclusive insurance” and a presentation of the recent paper “The role of insurance supervisors in Climate Risk Insurance,” published in November 2019. The Regional Program was organised by the Direction Nationale des Assurances (DNA) of Senegal, the Conférence Interafricaine des Marchés d’Assurances (CIMA), the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution française (ACPR), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the International Banking and Finance Institute (IBFI).

48 representatives of 17 francophone supervisory authorities participated in the interactive sessions, in which participants gained insights into how supervisors, policymakers and providers around the world have adopted innovative approaches to remove supply and demand obstacles to increase access to insurance and climate risk insurance. They also had the opportunity to understand better the needs and particularities of consumers in emerging markets. The underlying message of the activities was that supervisors need to adopt proportionate approaches on regulation and supervision to encourage innovation whilst ensuring the new risks and new participants in the market are adequately supervised.

iii-lab National Workshops

4-5 March, Hyderabad, India and Rabat, Morocco

On 4-5 March 2020, first national workshops of the iii-lab kicked off in India and Morocco.  In both countries stakeholders from the insurance industries - regulators, insurers, banks, brokers, and insurer associations – brought critical institutional insight and resources to the table to find innovative solutions to increase the uptake of insurance in their countries.  

In Hyderabad, the workshop opened with remarks by Ms T. L. Alamelu, Board Member of the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India  and Mr Ram Babu Vedantham representing the embassy of the Netherlands.  

In Morocco, to deliver the introductory remarks were Mr Othman El Alamy, ACAPS Secretary-General and Mr Luc Schilling, from the embassy of Netherlands .  They affirmed the importance of inclusive insurance and the tasks that lay ahead.  

Over the two days of creative brainstorming, team India discussed the challenges of inclusive insurance in their country from a variety of angles. Participants came to understand each other’s perspectives better, with one industry participant from the team India acknowledging that “regulators do not ask for information for no reason”. The group eventually decided to focus their innovation work on four initial priority clusters: customer centricity, awareness, distributors, and insurance processes.

In Morocco, the iii-lab comes at the right time, with the National Financial Strategy in place and other ongoing projects on financial  inclusion – Intelaka, for example. According to Mr El Alamy, it is now time for insurance to follow the financial services sector with reduced premium products. In an atmosphere of clarity and enthusiasm around innovating the Moroccan inclusive insurance ecosystem, ACAPS is taking the lead in federating different stakeholders and their respective interests.  In words of one of the lab’s participants, “It is good to be able to talk as we all have our angles, all important for a bigger picture.” The team Morocco split into two sub-groups on SMEs and Informal Workers to pursue the next steps.

Without the support of the Dutch Government, the 2^nd Inclusive Insurance Innovation Lab would not have been possible. More about the project here.

Putting the consumer at the heart of digitalisation of the insurance value chain - A2ii-IAIS Consultation Call

19 March – WebEx

The digitalisation of the insurance value chain unlocks opportunities that are reducing the insurance protection gap. The use of digital devices and digital transactional platforms are removing barriers which before hindered the possibility of offering valuable products to unserved and underserved segments of the population. New providers, business models, products and processes have emerged to create a new ecosystem that is reshaping the way to interact with consumers.

This consultation call explored how the digitalisation of the insurance value chain is reducing the protection gap in some jurisdictions. It looked at how supervisors have provided an enabling environment for innovation, and how this aligns with the IAIS conduct of business guidelines to promote responsible development.

Through an interactive dialogue, supervisors heard about different types of innovations that providers have adopted to address obstacles and provide insurance. The participants on the call explored how to adopt a balanced approach that facilitates innovation, considers the risks and ensures the right level of consumer protection, all at the same time.

During the English and French calls, we heard from Elias Omondi from Kenya’s Insurance Regulatory Authority and Tang Khai Sheng from Bank Negara Malaysia. Paulo Miller and Gustavo Caldas from SUSEP Brazil joined the French and Spanish calls respectively to share experiences from their jurisdictions. The dialogue in all the sessions was moderated by Andrea Camargo (director of Inspowering and technical expert of the A2ii). Keep an eye on our website here where a summary report of the call will be published.

Upcoming Events

A2ii-IAIS Consultation Call webinar series on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and implications for insurance supervisors

16 April, 30 April, 28 May

On this series of webinars we are looking at both the impact on the financial stability of the insurance sector as well as conduct of business implications. The next webinars are scheduled for 16 April, 30 April and 28 May – continue to check our events page for more information.

For more information and to register for the webinar on 16 April, please follow this link.

If you have any suggestions or topics that you would like the A2ii to specifically cover for this webinar series on COVID-19, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch via consultation.call@a2ii.org.

Recent Publications

Summary of the 15th, 16th, and 17th Consultative Forums in 2019 - “Climate and disaster risk: building resilience, bridging the protection gap”

In 2019, three dialogue forums were jointly organised in Latin America, Africa, and Asia by the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), Microinsurance Network (MiN) and InsuResilience Global Partnership, supported by local partners. We have now published a summary of key messages from the forums, as well as a summary of how approaches by different stakeholders (government, insurance supervisors, and insurers) can contribute to more resilient societies.

In addition to the newly published summary, video recordings, reports and presentations can be found in our archives:

15th Consultative Forum, 7 May 2019, Panama City, Panama

16th Consultative Forum, 12-13 June 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa

17th Consultative Forum, 4 November 2019, Dhaka, Bangladesh (videos on YouTube)

Report on Cloud Computing: Regulatory and Supervisory Approaches - A2ii-IAIS Consultation Call

The report on the consultation call has been published. Advancements in digital technologies bring both benefits and challenges to the insurance industry and the financial sector in general. In recent years, cloud computing is increasingly being used in the insurance sector. As the use of cloud computing services and technology continues to grow, additional regulatory requirements or enhanced supervisory practices may be required which makes it important for supervisors to consider the regulatory and supervisory implications of cloud computing. On this consultation call, experts explored the topic of cloud computing and its implication for supervisors. This call drew on FSI Insights paper on Regulating and Supervising the clouds: emerging prudential approaches for insurance companies.

Staffing Updates

We are pleased to welcome Pascale Lamb to the A2ii Secretariat in the position of Advisor. She is currently supporting the A2ii with capacity building and with the consultation calls. Pascale has over ten years of experience working in financial regulation and prior to joining the A2ii, she worked for the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where she led on the FCA’s engagement with the global standard setting bodies and capacity building with international regulators. She has also worked for the insurance sector on consumer protection and regulatory compliance.