Spectre of new regulation looms for insurers

New financial services regulation could be detrimental to insurers if not handled properly, a panel of insurance and reinsurance executives warned at Reactions’ Global Insurance Conference in Zurich, Switzerland on November 10.

The panel, which was chaired by Reactions’ editor Michael Loney, included Paolo de Martin, Scor’s chief financial officer; James Illingworth, group chief risk officer of Lloyd’s insurer Amlin; Patrick Liedtke, secretary general and managing director of The Geneva Association; Mark Byrne, chairman and founder of Flagstone Re; and Costas Miranthis, CEO of PartnerRe Europe.

Liedtke kicked off the discussion by referring to a letter his association sent to the G-20 last week, urging it to take into account the specific nature of insurance and reinsurance when devising a new regulatory framework.

“If you look at the scope of this crisis, you can draw the conclusion that insurance as a system actually worked pretty well. This is...