In September, Dr Pei Guang, Director General of the Statistical Department of the Chinese regulator, the CIRC, together with seven representatives from China Re, spent a day increasing their knowledge on Lloyd’s data collection processes to inform the CIRC’s own proposed system that China Re has been chosen to implement.
October was particularly busy as we welcomed Kerrie Kelly on her first visit to Lloyd’s as CEO of the Insurance Council of Australia; Neil Weeks, CEO of the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation; Ruben Gely, Director of the International Insurance Centre of Puerto Rico; and finally Sani Ab Hamid, Senior Director of the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority who, together with Jeremy Camps of the Labuan International Insurance Association and Simon Wilson, Managing Director of Lloyd’s Asia, gave a presentation to the market on reinsurance and takaful opportunities in Labuan, and the benefits of Lloyd’s Labuan operation.
November promises to be equally interesting, with a high-level delegation from Florida, headed by Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, scheduled to drop into Lloyd’s to discuss climate change and the availability of CAT capacity to meet increasing exposures in the south-eastern US states. Similar concerns will doubtless be shared by the Honourable Gregory Francis, Lt Governor of the US Virgin Islands, who will be visiting Lloyd’s at the same time, accompanied by the Director of the USVI’s Division of Banking & Insurance, John McDonald.
International Market Access welcomes frequent and constructive interaction of this kind with Lloyd’s overseas regulators. On one level, it helps us to nurture bilateral relationships that are based on mutual understanding and respect and in turn facilitate the market’s international business objectives. On another, it provides us with an opportunity to reinforce Lloyd’s role as a thought leader on international regulatory policy, a responsibility we take very seriously and already cultivate through our participation in organisations such as the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA) and International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).
We will soon begin planning for our next Regulators Programme in 2008. In the meantime, we will keep you advised of upcoming visits and market presentations.
