12 August 2013

Bloomberg: FSB extends too-big-to-fail bank resolution to insurers

The Financial Stability Board said an extended version of its guidance on the resolution of systemically important banks will apply to non-bank financial institutions, such as Allianz SE (ALV) and other large insurers.

The Basel, Switzerland-based body set up by the Group of 20 nations has developed “annexes” to its advice for local regulators of financial institutions that aren’t lenders, according to an e-mailed statement today. The FSB asked for responses from market participants by October 15.

The FSB, led by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, is coordinating the global regulatory response to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression to prevent a repeat of the turmoil that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and bailout of American International Group Inc.

“The standards as originally conceived were meant to cover all types of systemic institutions”, Eva Huepkes, a Basel-based adviser to the FSB secretary, said in a telephone interview. While the FSB originally focused on the biggest banks, “today’s consultation sets out how the resolution standards apply specifically to non-banks”, she said.

Last month, the FSB published a list of nine too-big-to-fail insurers, including Allianz, American International Group Inc. (AIG), MetLife Inc. (MET), Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) and Axa SA (CS).

The FSB “set out the core elements considered necessary to make feasible the resolution of financial institutions without severe systemic disruption and without exposing taxpayers to losses”, it said today.

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