The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has outlined its new 2020-24 strategic plan, which includes a shift in focus to fully address emerging policy issues such as insurtech, cyber risks, and climate risk, as well as the challenge of sustainable development.
In recent years, the IAIS has focused primarily on a post-crisis reform agenda to mitigate systemic risk in the global re/insurance sector, which it believes was exposed by the global financial crisis.
However, following an 18-month consultation period with members, the Association has identified a new set of issues that it believes have the potential to reshape the re/insurance industry in the coming years.
“The new strategic plan encapsulates significant changes for the Association, our Members as supervisors, but also the global insurance industry and policyholders more widely,” said Victoria Saporta, Chair of the IAIS Executive Committee.
She continued: “While the IAIS maintains its core functions of developing global standards, supporting implementation and contributing to global financial stability, the period ahead will see a change in emphasis toward applying these functions in ways that help our Members proactively respond to a rapidly changing global environment driven by technological innovation, shifts in consumer behaviour and societal challenges.”
Secretary General Jonathan Dixon also commented: “Under its current strategic plan, the IAIS has made significant progress on its post-crisis reform agenda, with the finalisation of the Common Framework for the Supervision of Internationally Active Insurance Groups – ComFrame – and a holistic framework for the mitigation of systemic risk in the global insurance sector expected before the end of 2019.”
“Under the new plan, from 2020 onwards, finalisation and implementation of agreed reforms remain a critical priority,” he added. “However, the focus will necessarily shift to the next horizon.”
The high-level goals in the new five-year plan incorporate strategies to respond to trends and developments in ways that best add value to IAIS’s members and leverage the potential for effective collaboration with partner organisations, other standard setting bodies and industry stakeholders, the Association explained.
Established in 1994, the IAIS is the international standard setting body responsible for developing principles, standards and other supporting material for the supervision of the re/insurance sector.
It is a voluntary membership organisation of insurance supervisors and regulators that aims to promote effective and consistent supervision of the industry in order to protect policyholders and contribute to global financial stability.
