09 October 2013

GFIA: First annual report published

The Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA) was founded in Washington, DC in October 2012 by 32 life and health, property and casualty, and reinsurance associations. Since then, three more associations have joined the federation and we now represent an impressive 87 per cent of all the world’s insurance premiums. A global voice indeed.

That figure demonstrates just how representative GFIA is. But that is not the only reason; its rigorous decision-making processes require an extremely high level of consensus. For the GFIA to issue a policy position, a 90% consensus is required among its members. Instead of being an obstacle, this high threshold has become an advantage. Policymakers and regulators know that when the GFIA takes a position it is supported by essentially the entire global industry.

Despite that high hurdle for consensus, in its first 12 months the GFIA has produced a significant number of high-quality, detailed positions, papers and letters on topics that are of major concern to the global insurance industry. Through 10 working groups, it has covered issues that include the efforts by regulators to tackle systemic risk in the financial sector; the IAIS work to develop a common framework for international groups (ComFrame); work on policyholder protection schemes; and involvement in a number of trade issues. On many of the topics that the GFIA has already covered — such as the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force’s anti-money laundering Recommendations and the work of the IAIS on third-country branch operations — it has been the sole voice representing the global industry’s views.

GFIA has engaged face-to-face and in writing with all the key international bodies dealing with insurance-related topics. Of particular note this year was its GFIA delegation to meet the Russian G20 presidency in March. GFIA held meetings with Russia’s Deputy Minister of Finance and representatives of its central bank and GFIA saw those discussions bear fruit in the welcome G20 Summit declaration in September on facilitating and encouraging institutional investors to finance long-term investment.

One of the exciting areas that the GFIA is also developing is research coordination. GFIA has set up a working group that will not seek to carry out primary research but rather consolidate the considerable amount of research and statistics that its associations conduct in various benchmarking exercises and in response to government proposals and regulatory requests. This exchange of data will increase our collective knowledge base for the benefit of all members.

It has been a busy year establishing the federation and setting up its working groups and the secretariat. GFIA has also achieved much since October 2012 in terms of building positions, establishing contacts and launching our advocacy work.

More work, of course, remains to be done. The international regulation of insurance is at a key point in its evolution. For the first time, international capital standards are being discussed and the ComFrame framework for internationally active companies is taking shape. The industry must be ready to speak clearly and responsibly on these issues. GFIA will also need to strengthen its relationships with other groups that represent parts of the insurance sector, such as the Geneva Association and the International Institute of Finance (IIF).

Full annual report

© GFIA - Global Federation of Insurance Associations