No. 160, July 15th, 2010
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News - THE ROMANIAN INSURANCE MARKET NEWSLETTER No. 160, July 15th, 2010 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe! |
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| EDITORIAL |
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Headlines for the first page of newspapers, that gather audiences for televisions, money from the budget for reconstruction... Then silence... Until the floods strike again... many times in the same place... This year, authorities have found the saving solution: insurance companies should insure the households and pay the claims. Even those in flood prone areas, even those built without authorization... According to the latest ISC data, only 24% of the households in Romania are insured, and many of them only against basic risks. Did the state offer deductibility to boost household insurance? No... Did it run campaigns to promote the concept of insurance? No... In fact, it didn't even find money to offer PAID a loan for the payment of the initial reinsurance costs... State, whose vocabulary seems to lack the concept of tax incentives, who did not support by any real measure the insurance companies, who has no clear strategy on combating natural disasters... wants the insurers to take the risks. For years, in Romania, we speak about the importance of the public-private partnership. During these floods, maybe the state will find solutions to support its citizens, for the benefit of all of us... by mihaela.circu@mxp.ro |
Insurance
PROFILE Review Click here to order! PRIMM Magazine Special Report CEE, RUSSIA & CIS  
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| INTERVIEW |
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Michaela KOLLER: You obviously start with the trickiest question. This is clearly a time when we, the insurance and reinsurance federation, are experiencing every day the after-shocks of the crisis, but we experienced it more on the legislative side. When we look at our industry, I think we can say we have of course been affected - when you look at the investment portfolio of our members, we have obviously suffered -, but when you look at the overall picture of our industry, with very few exceptions, the industry has weathered the storm very well. The fact that the industry has been, to a certain extent, a stabilizer in a very uncertain environment does not necessarily help the industry, in the sense that we are not completely insulated from any legislative activity. There is a lot of legislative activity, not just at European level, but also at international level, and in that respect we feel the crisis, beyond the economic impact. The crisis wasn't generated by the insurance industry; we were more on the receiving end, when you look at the investment portfolio. But now regulators, policyholders, also supervisors who are acting in the interest of the policyholders and, generally, Governments feel that we need to scrutinize the different roles of the different players in the crisis, and even if we have more of a siderole, we are still part of the financial services sector, and in that context we are also under scrutiny. From my perpective, I think the problem is to what extent will our sector be subject to new regulations. We are now in this phase where everybody is trying to draw lessons from the crisis, trying to find the best ways forward, and because the focus is obviously on the banking sector, a lot of the ideas that are developed for banks are ideas that we are also confrunted with, in the insurance sector. XPRIMM: CEA sent a letter to the G 20 meetings that took place in Canada a few weeks ago, asking them to take into consideration the fact that banking and insurance are two different industries, and the new wave of regulations which is about to be discussed should take into consideration the difference between the two industries. M. K.: It is something we feel very strongly about. Our very recent experience in the aftermath and crisis digestion mode has shown that regulators look at the banking industry or at the unregulated market first. We want therefore to establish a level playing field. In this context, a lot of the ideas that are genuinelly developed in the different sectors or with a sector in mind are tested with us. Is it time, at this very moment, to come out and say: not everyting that works for banking or for a different financial services sector is also working for us. May be you can take some principles, but then you have to find distinct, different regulatory responses for our sector. We have a distinctly different business model, a distinctly different balance sheet, we have had so far different regulations. A different behavior is then triggered by the respective market players and we have also a very different risk profile than other financial services sectors. XPRIMM: You are speaking about a new wave of regulations that will affect the insurance industry, too. What exactly are those pieces of legislation? M. K.: We see activity in 4 broad areas. First, we have activity in the area of everyting that relates to stability and maintaining stability. I guess one of the big conclusions from the crisis is that, at international level, but also in individual countries and regions of the world, there wasn't sufficient focus on macroeconomic issues. So, regulators, supervisors, are now saying: we need to look at systemic risk and at systemic relevance, may be of institutions, may be of whole sectors, and we need to address this. This is one big workstream and insurance is also concerned by it, because we have big insurance or reinsurance companies that should be part of this debate. The insurance sector is a huge institution investor, so it can contribute to absorbing shoks, to stability. A recent report has stated that insurance has effectively worked as a shock absorber in the crisis, and in that respect we are keen on maintaining this model. We are also keen to participate in a debate to demostrate where insurance works differently than banking and how it can have this balancing mode that we believe is very important and proved its value in the last crisis. The second big workstream is microprudential supervision. We already have a project on-going, in the insurance sector, on which we have also worked very intensely in the CEA - that is Solvency II, in Europe. We are now faced with a supervisory community that is very impressed by the crisis and wants to introduce higher levels of prudence to this system - and that is currently one discussion point. But we want to warn about the risk of introducing too much prudence in the system. We have also issued a report this year, where we warn about excessive capital requirements, because we warn about the bad impact it would have, not just on the insurance sector and the insurers, but on the economy overall, and ultimately on the policyholder. XPRIMM: Is the insurers' community in Central and Eastern Europe prepared for implementing Solvency II, which has been on debate for the last couple of years? M. K.: Solvency II is a change of paradigm and it will involve a huge change for all the European markets. We have seen, and from the Federation's perspective this gives me confidence, that we have very high levels of participation in the quantitative impact study. In the last exercise assessment, QIS 4, we had 1,250 insurance companies, which represents a very hight level of participation in such an exercise, that indicates that there is not only an interest, but also a high level of preparedness, in the sense that companies want to test what Solvency II is all about, how it will affect their business, what will change. Is everybody already prepared? It is difficult to say, but clearly there is an interest in this sector and those who have not yet participated are strongly encouraged to participate this year in the quantitative impact study. The Commission is already telling us we should offer support for this exercise and, again from a federation perspective, we would encourage this, because this is the only way to find out if it fits our sector, if there are still problems that we need to identify. And, if we have the data available, afterwards, it will also help us with the final calibration of Solvency II. In July we will send out the specifications for this study, then we will start throughout the summer, and then in the autumn we will have a deadline and results will be available next spring. XPRIMM: There is a growing demand on debates regarding the consumer protection in the insurance market and there is growing focus upon this subject. Is it also or mainly because of the financial crisis? M. K.: I think it is a combination of the two. At European level, since February, we have now a new Commissioner, Commissioner BARNIER, and when he took the office he already made it very clear that he wanted to have a strong consumer protection focus in his work, so he has already asked the services to look into issues to protect individual consumers. Then, you see the effects of the crisis. In some sectors there was a feeling that consumers didn't always understand when they were buying certain products. For example, the famous Lehman certificates - consumers weren't entirely aware that they were risking a big part, if not all of their money. The 3rd workstream is represented by a debate we have now in 3 areas of consumer protection: first is to increase information, second is to look at distribution channels and to see to what extent they can be improved, from a consumer perspective, and the third is insurance guarantee schemes - to what extent do we need an insurance guarantee scheme. From an industry perpective, we do not have too little information, we maybe have too much, sometimes... I don't know how you feel when you read your insurance policies, but you don't really feel like reading it and you sometimes don't see the wood for the trees, so what we would argue is we need something shorter, to the point, the relevant information on one page, and we have proposed to the European supervisors a standardized information sheet, the Key Investor Checklist, as we call it, and we want to promote, basically, a more to-the-point information. The issue of distribution is very tricky. Here, also, we are being confrunted with demands from other sectors, for exemple the securities market sector, where they say maybe we should have the same regulations as they have. But not everything that fits MIFID necessarily fits to our sector. When we talk now about the second channel of distribution, I think it is important to notice that both the information and the distribution discussions are being held in the context of PRIPs (Package Retail Investment Products). This actually means another blank field debate: To what extent is the insurance product, specifically the life insurance product, so close to other products that they require the same regulation? And we would argue again that there is a distinct difference between different players on the market and different products on the market. We have put forward a standardized information sheet that has a couple of lines where specific insurance issues are being raised. After we have really insisted that the differences and the potential impact on our sector should be tested before we are being subjected to MIFID Law, they have now agreed to undertake a study. On the market, they test MIFID rules on insurance companies and they want to find out: does it make a difference? Does it have a negative impact? We expect the study results in the autumn. XPRIMM: When exactly will the Package Retail Insurance Products Directive come into force? When will it become mandatory? M. K.: We are currently in the preparatory phase. So, the commission hasn't entirely decided to what extent PRIPs will be addressed. This is really a very intense consultation phase, so there is a lot of consultation, cost-benefit analysis, studies. And, at the end of this process (that is at least my experience), it improves the quality of the regulation quite considerably and the Commission will come forward with proposals in this respect. There will probably be a PRIPs directive for information requirements, and then there might be different directives where the distribution issue is addressed - a MIFID review for the securities markets part and an IMD review for the insurance markets part. But they should be very closely aligned, in terms of policy, objectives, but also, to a certain extent, in the regulation. XPRIMM: Currently, there are talks about the second Insurance Mediation Directive. What are the key challenges or the main focuses on that? M. K.: The IMD is meant to be reviewed, because when it was adopted, in the text there was already foreseen a review period that has now expired, so the Commission, by law, is meant to revise it. But, obvioulsy, since the IMD has been adopted, a lot of other things have happened. We have had the MIFID Directive for the securities market, it has set a certain level of standards, hence there is a maximum harmonization approach, and IMD was the minimum, so the Commission feels that the IMD also needs to be brought up to a certain regulatory standard. So, that is one challenge. XPRIMM: I really want to present to the Romanian insurance market some key features about your activity, about CEA's activity and also about the involvement of UNSAR in the Commission. Could you emphasize on that? M. K.: We, the CEA, are a federation of associations, so our members are the associations in 27 member states, the main associations, plus we also have members in 6 additional countries. These countries are the European Economic Area countries, Liechtenstien, Luxembourg and Norway, then we have Turkey as a founding member, Switzerland and Croatia. This is our membership. UNSAR takes a very active role in our organization, Florentina ALMAJANU is in our executive committee, she is a very active contributor, there are lots of proposals that are being launched by her, and in that respect we have a very fruitful cooperation. XPRIMM: What would be your message for the Romanian and for the CEE insurers, in general, in times of crisis? M. K.: A message in times of crisis? The way I see it, we should be sending to the regulators the messages that the insurers have, so I don't think I should use this oportunity now, to try to send messages. So, I am very interested in getting messages from your market. XPRIMM: Thank you! |
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| TOP PRESS |
VIDEO: Exclusive: KOLLER, CEA: The insurance industry has been a stabilizer in a very uncertain environment "The insurance industry has been, to a certain extent, a stabilizer in a very uncertain environment. This does however not necessarily help the industry, in the sense that we are not completely insulated from any legislative activity. There is of course a lot of legislative activity, not just at European level, but also at international level, and in that respect we will also feel the crisis, beyond the economic impact", Michaela KOLLER, Director General of CEA (The European Insurers and Reinsurers Federation), has said in an exclusive interview for PRIMM Insurance & Pensions Magazine. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 09.07.2010 Exclusive: Nic de MAESSCHALCK, BIPAR: In times of crisis, added value is even more important than price "It is in these times of crisis that added value is even more important than price, while competition plays a bigger role on the quality of the services", Nic de MAESSCHALCK, Director, BIPAR, has said in an exclusive interview for PRIMM Insurance & Pensions Magazine. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 07.07.2010 PAID begins issuing mandatory household insurance policies After several postponements of the deadline for implementation of mandatory household insurance, members of the Pool of Insurance Against Natural Disasters (PAID) will underwrite today, July 15, 2010, the first policies. On this occasion, PAID held today a press conference at Hotel INTERCONTINENTAL. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 15.07.2010 Marius BULUGEA: PAID will underwrite exclusively online! The Pool of Insurance Against Natural Disasters (PAID) will issue the policies only electronically, on the MTPL insurance model. "Companies that do not have an online underwritings system in the territory will be able to conclude these policies at the insurers' offices in county capitals", said Marius BULUGEA, President of PAID. Click here to read more! by oleg.doronceanu@mxp.ro, 06.07.2010 84% of Romanians will buy a household insurance policy Romanians perceive the importance of household insurance, but low living standards keep them from saving too many financial resources for these financial products. Here's one conclusion of a recent survey of IRES - Romanian Institute for Assessment and Strategy, after floodings from the last period. Click here to read more! by oana.radu@mxp.ro, 14.07.2010 OMNIASIG Asigurari de Viata acquisition by AXA, completed AXA announced, on the 7th of July, that the acquisition of the company OMNIASIG Asigurari de Viata by the Group AXA has been successfully completed. By this operation, AXA becomes 100% shareholder of OMNIASIG Asigurari de Viata. Shortly, the recording of the transaction by local authorities will take place. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 07.07.2010 Average compensation paid by FPVS in Q1 doubled compared to December 2009 If in 2009 the average compensation paid by FPVS - Street Victims Protection Fund was RON 10,437, in the first quarter of this year it has doubled compared with the level of last December, to RON 20,455, and has increased more than twice compared to the one registered in the correspondent period of 2009, of RON 9,500. Also, the Fund has budgeted RON 7 million for compensations for the year 2010, given that the total volume of paid claims in 2009 was RON 3.17 million, for a total of 304 people, according to statements made by General Director of FPVS, Sorin GRECEANU, in a seminar organized recently by UNSAR. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 02.07.2010 VAT increase will affect all companies in terms of profitability "Supposing the insurance rates remain unchanged, the costs of claims files, which will be the first ones affected in the context of the VAT hike, will have a negative impact on the claims rate", insurers say. "For sure, the VAT increase will negatively influence all insurance companies in the Romanian market in terms of profitability", said James GRINDLEY, General Manager, CERTASIG. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 13.07.2010 Plus 10% to the business of ALICO Romania in the first four months ALICO Asigurari Romania, until December 2009 known as AIG Life, recorded in January-April an increase of 26% of gross written premiums from accident and illness insurance, respectively one of 25% of those underwritten from health insurance, the insurer said. These results came in the context of the concern of ALICO Romania to meet the segments of clients with specific needs and regarding the way of developing the products launched individually or in partnerships. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 09.07.2010 Dragos CIOCAN is the new Reinsurance Manager of CARE Dragos CIOCAN was appointed Reinsurance Manager of the company CARE - Insurance - Reinsurance Company EXIM, owned by EXIMBANK. Click here to read more! by oana.radu@mxp.ro, 07.07.2010 MTPL clients of UNIQA Asigurari will not be affected by the VAT increase UNIQA Asigurari has decided not to increase MTPL tarrifs in this period, due to increased VAT, but to maintain them at the existing level, to encourage buying insurance as the only way of protection in case of risks. Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 02.07.2010 |
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| Republic of Moldova |
Moldavian insurers may issue MTPL policies in electronic system starting January 1, 2011 Moldavian insurance companies may issue policies in electronic system starting next year, once with the completion of the information system and of the common database. "Starting October this year, we will implement a pilot program to test the information system of electronic issuance of mandatory MTPL insurance policies", said Vlad STIRBU, Insurance Department Manager, The National Commission of Financial Market (CNPF) from the Republic of Moldova. Click here to read more! by oleg.doronceanu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 07.07.2010 Household insurance - a source of growth for the Moldavian insurance market The introduction of mandatory household insurance could boost the increase of the insurance market, but also of the awareness of people regarding the benefits and usefulness of such a policy. Currently, only 1% of the approximately 1 million homes in Moldova are insured, although the risks the households are exposed to are more striking, and the frequency of the catastrophic risks is increasing in the last years (especially floods). Click here to read more! by oleg.doronceanu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 07.07.2010 Vitalie BODEA, MOLDASIG: In 2009, the decrease of the insurance market was at least 30% "If in the period 2007-2008, the insurance market of Moldova has developed, registering steady growths of over 25%, the situation changed in 2009, when the volume of underwritings decreased by 3-4%. Personally, I think that the decline was bigger if we consider the devaluation of the MDL in relation to the European currency, in this case the reduction being situated at around 15%. Also, if we take into consideration the two parameters, the decrease of the national currency, on one hand, and increases in previous years, on the other hand, practically the decrease of the market was higher, at least 30 percentage points", said Vitalie BODEA, General Manager, MOLDASIG. Click here to read more! by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 14.07.2010 How will the insurance market look like in five years? The Moldavian insurance market has seen, in the years preceding the economic crisis, substantial double-digit growths. 2009 came with a decrease in the business of local insurers, influenced, as in Romania, by the major decline recorded by insurance related fields, such as leasing and lending, investments. Click here to read more! by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 14.07.2010 Without insurance, you're at the mercy of the authorities! "The evolution of the insurance industry in Moldova was slow, since the profile market did not develop at the same rate on all insurance classes. Thus, motor policies, either the voluntary Motor Hull ones, or the mandatory MTPL or Green Card ones, were more requested by customers, to the detriment of the property segment or of the general liability segment", said Eugeniu SLOPAC, General Manager, ASITO. Click here to read more! by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 15.07.2010 Moldova, three years after the modernization of the insurance market "2007 marked the year of a new reglementation of the law for the insurance market of Moldova. One of the most significant changes was represented by the introduction of requirements on the minimum share capital of insurers, that must reach MLD 15 million by 2012 (editor's note: equivalent to EUR 940,000)", commented Alexei TOPOROV, President of the insurance company GARANTIE. Click here to read more! by oleg.doronceanu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 06.07.2010 Only 0.5% of the population of Moldova has a life insurance "In the Republic of Moldova, there are in progress about 17,000 life insurance policies, which represents about 0.5% of the population", said Sergiu CERTAN, General Manager of the insurance company SIGUR-ASIGUR. Click here to read more! by oleg.doronceanu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 06.07.2010 |
| CEE, RUSSIA&CIS |
The European Commision launches QIS5 test The Commission services have sent CEIOPS the following Call for Advice along with the final technical specifications for the fifth quantitative impact study on Solvency II (QIS5). European insurance and reinsurance undertakings, including captive ones, are being asked to participate in the QIS5 exercise from August to November 2010. CEIOPS will publish the report on the results of the QIS5 exercise in April 2011. Click here to read more! by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro, 09.07.2010 Bulgaria will introduce 2% tax on insurance premiums Bulgaria's parliamentary economic commission approved at first reading a bill, which provides for the introduction of 2% tax on insurance premiums. Thirteen MPs voted for and another six against the new tax, which will come into effect on September 1 and is expected to hike insurance policies prices by at least 2%. Click here to read more! by novinite, 17.07.2010 SIGMA: Central and Eastern Europe reverses growth trends A weak economic recovery in Central and Eastern Europe in 2010 will continue to reduce demand for motor insurance and other lines sensitive to the business cycle, the latest SIGMA report published by SWISS Re states. The potential for rate increases will also be limited. Non-life premium growth is likely to revive slightly in 2011 as the economic recovery regains some momentum; however, growth will be more muted than in the past ten years. Click here to read more! by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro, 08.07.2010 INGO Group's performance in 2009 in accordance with IFRS According to the results of 2009, the consolidated insurance premiums paid to Russian INGO group amounted to RUR 52.7 billion, compared to RUR 51.5 million for the same period of previous year (2.4% growth compared to 2008). Click here to read more! by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro, 15.07.2010 National Congress of Insurance Underwriters has come to its 2nd edition The aim of the conference, organized by the National Insurance Guild and Association of Insurance Specialists Underwriters' Club in partnership with BUSINESS Format Group, is to create a new, democratic venue for exchanging experience, related to the vital issues of insurance underwriting, and working out the strategy of development. Also, organizers have committed themselves to enhance the Russian underwriters' professional reputation among the international community of insurers and clients, as well as to develop methodological bases for assessing the underwriters' professional level. Click here to read more! |
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