European Insurance Forum 2011
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IRISH NATIONAL TELEVISION RTE News at One Monday 23rd May 2011 - Irish National TV channel (scroll to 16.06 minutes on RTE player to hear RTE News at One report from European Insurance Forum after the ads). IRISH NATIONAL RADIO Morning Ireland Interview on RTE - Irish National Radio channel report from European Insurance Forum (click on the studio photo below John Bruton’s photo) PRINT PRESS Insurers can learn from Irish Regulatory Failings - Irish Central Bank DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--Ireland's failure to regulate its domestic banks have highlighted "fundamental gaps" in basic regulation in other sectors such as the insurance industry, Irish central bank deputy governor told a gathering of international insurance experts in Dublin. Matthew Elderfield, who was appointed last year as Ireland's new Head of Regulation, told the European Insurance Forum that Irish and Europe-wide plans to extend stronger regulation to insurers would help protect Ireland's reputation as a financial centre. However, the new rules were "proportionate and risk-based" said Elderfield, in a wide-ranging speech that touched on plans by both Irish and Europe-wide regulators to strengthen oversight of the international insurance and reinsurance industry. Despite its banking and debt crisis, Ireland is... Click here for more Eamon Quinn, Dow Jones Newswires; in WSJ MAY 23, 2011 ________________________________________________ Central Bank to expand insurance regulation The Central Bank is to increase the size of its regulatory staff, with the number of insurance regulators set to rise to 113 by the end of the year. Speaking at the European Insurance Forum today, head of financial regulation at the Central Bank Matthew Elderfield said it would also expand its actuarial staff and appoint a director of insurance supervision to report directly to him. "This addition of resources will give the Central Bank the capacity to do supervision more effectively, with specialist knowledge of the firms that we supervise and to allow a distinctly insurance – not banking – emphasis in our approach," he said. Mr Elderfield said there were lessons to be learned from the financial crisis. "The Irish financial crisis – a banking crisis – does present a lot of lessons to be learned about the way regulation and supervision generally didn’t work effectively in Ireland," he said. "The various reports on the crisis, and also my own observation, highlight not only banking-specific problems but also... Click here for more www.irishtimes.com May 23rd 2011 ________________________________________________ Solvency II should not distract regultors - Irish Central Bank DUBLIN (Reuters) - European regulators must be careful not to let work on new capital rules for insurers distract them from other risks, Ireland's financial regulator said on Monday. Matthew Elderfield said lessons had to be learned from the introduction of new capital rules for banks which meant banking supervisors had their most qualified staff focused on implementing new standards while the credit bubble was brewing. "We must take care that the entire regulatory community and insurance industry isn't diverted into the Solvency II project, with the best and brightest of our people distracted with preparations, so that we don't collectively take our eye off the day job and any emerging risks," Elderfield said at a speech to the European Insurance Forum in Dublin. Solvency II will mean tougher solvency requirements for insurance firms and Elderfield said given the current weak prices for insurance products supervisors needed to ensure that insurers were adequately pricing risk and not using reserves to flatter profitability. Elderfield said the Irish central bank would be in favour of allowing... Click here for more Reuters DUBLIN | Mon May 23, 2011 ________________________________________________ Elderfield: 'Gaping hole' in framework Changes to Ireland's corporate governance standards are to 'fill a gaping hole in the Irish regulatory framework', according to Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield. Central Bank changes to Ireland's corporate governance standards are designed to 'fill a gaping hole in the Irish regulatory framework', according to Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield. In an address to the European Insurance Forum, Mr Elderfield said reports into Ireland's financial crisis had identified a number 'fundamental gaps' in the basic regulatory infrastructure across all sectors. These included an absence of effective standards for corporate governance and also weaknesses in how the Central Bank is resourced and organised for front line supervision. Mr Elderfield said the Central Bank approach was aimed at 'encouraging more focus on governance and broadening the gene pool of Irish corporate life by bringing more diversity and experience onto boards'. This would require 'substantial changes' for some companies, he said. Mr Elderfield said that international insurance market was continuing to experience soft pricing conditions, and that the 'relative stability of the Irish-based sector in such a difficult environment is notable and reflects positively on the attractions of Ireland as a financial centre'. Mr Elderfield warned that while there were lessons to be learned from the banking crisis for regulating the insurance industry, the banking 'rule book shouldn't be Xeroxed wholesale onto insurance'. He warned that Ireland's reputation as a financial centre 'would... Click here for more www.rte.ie May 23rd 2011 ________________________________________________ Regulator hints at debt-forgiveness u-turn CENTRAL Bank deputy governor Matthew Elderfield yesterday gave his strongest endorsement to the concept of 'debt forgiveness' by bailed-out banks, saying it was "perfectly possible" that schemes could be launched. The comments came six months after Mr Elderfield all but ruled out debt forgiveness schemes on the grounds that they would be unfair and unaffordable. Since then, AIB's newcomer executive chairman David Hodgkinson has publicly said the bank was "actively considering" using some of the bank's latest bailout to run a debt-forgiveness scheme. Other banks are believed to be considering similar moves that would be largely targeted at struggling mortgage holders who owe more than their homes are worth. "I've spoken to the executive chairman [of AIB], he says he's working on some ideas and he'll share those with us," Mr Elderfield said yesterday. "It's perfectly possible that individual banks might take initiatives on debt forgiveness." Mr Elderfield added that he previously had concerns about debt forgiveness on three grounds: the… Click here for more Laura Noonan, Irish Independent, May 24th 2011 ________________________________________________ AIB should be allowed to break pay cap, says Elderfield CENTRAL Bank deputy governor Matthew Elderfield yesterday threw his weight behind AIB's campaign to pay its new boss above the banking pay cap and said the Government should consider abolishing the salary ceilings altogether. The comments come a week after the public reacted with outrage when it emerged that bailed-out AIB wanted clearance to breach the €500,000 salary cap for its next chief executive. "We're probably going to need to pay the bankers more if we want to attract some outside talent," Mr Elderfield told journalists yesterday, speaking on the fringes of an insurance industry conference. "Right now, as taxpayers, we own the whole banking system. You want to get the best person available to manage our investment and maximise that." The €500,000 pay cap emerged after the Ciroc review of bank pay back in February 2009 -- Mr Elderfield said it was now time to review those rules since the banks needed to "bring in people from the outside" to refresh management. "You want to probably put Ciroc aside and say, now we're at a different phase," he added. "What was good three years ago when… Click here for more Laura Noonan, Irish Independent, May 24th 2011 ________________________________________________ Why the Central Bank may struggle to attract good actuaries The Central Bank of Ireland is starting a new recruitment spree, this time focusing on bolstering its insurance supervisory team. Among the new hires will be a team of actuaries, but salary constraints mean it will struggle to attract top talent. Matthew Elderfield announced the plans to take the Central Bank's insurance regulatory headcount to 113 by the end of this year at the European Insurance Forum, held in Dublin on Sunday. It's also planning on expanding its team of actuaries to 15 by the end of the year. There's a heavy weighting towards recruiting trainees – there will be 8 qualified actuaries and 7 trainees in the team by the end of 2011. Part of the reason for this could be that actuaries are expensive, and the Central Bank doesn't have particularly deep pockets. "Although the regulator has been successful in recruiting actuaries, salaries there are uncompetitive and for that reason they may struggle to hire in the future," says Paul Walsh, CEO of Dublin-based actuarial recruiters Acumen Resources. "They also don't… Click here for more Paul Clarke, www.efinancialcareers.ie, May 24th 2011 ________________________________________________ Change of tack as Bruton reveals admiration for ECB FORMER Taoiseach John Bruton yesterday said he had "huge admiration" for the European Central Bank (ECB) -- despite recently accusing the Frankfurt powerhouse of a "major failure of supervision" that contributed to the Irish banking crisis. The conciliatory comments from Mr Bruton, made on the sidelines of an insurance industry forum, came two months after the IFSC tzar launched the first of a series of attacks against the ECB. "They responded [to my comments] both publicly and privately," Mr Bruton said. "I respect them much much more for the fact that they did respond.” "I have great admiration for the people in the ECB; they're dealing with situations that were foreseeable but entirely unforeseen by every organisation and institution. I think we should pay a lot of attention to what the ECB says." The comments are in stark contrast with his previous claim that the ECB… Click here for more Laura Noonan, Irish Independent, May 24th 2011 ________________________________________________ Insurance industry’s success is in spite of banking, says Elderfield The Irish insurance sector's success is in spite of the banking sector, said Matthew Elderfield, deputy governor, Central Bank of Ireland, yesterday at the DIMA European insurance forum 2011 in Dublin. In a keynote speech, followed by a panel discussion, he said that the debate whether banking regulation would influence insurance regulation was "subject to exaggeration". Bank rules should not be 'xeroxed' onto insurers, but issues needed addressing individually, he said. Alex Daivdson, Thomson Reuters, May24th 2011 ________________________________________________ Director-end compliance to get more expensive, warns Aviva Re Head of Compliance High-level compliance is to become more expensive as corporate governance requirements develop, a conference heard. Julia Carmichael, head of compliance at Aviva Re, said yesterday at the DIMA European Insurance Forum 2011 in Dublin that the European corporate governance code was softer in "what it is trying to achieve" than the Irish corporate governance code, to be implemented from June 30, and it had wider latitude. Firms were trying to manage both. Alex Davidson, Thomson Reuters, May 25th 2011 ________________________________________________ Strauss-Kahn provides leader reputation lesson and D&O developments, hears DIMA Forum The Strauss-Kahn episode is a prime example of how a leader's reputation is enmeshed in his organisation, in this case a regulatory body, according to Reputation Institute (UK). The subject came under focus during a reputational risk session at the Dublin International Insurance and Management Association's European Insurance Forum 2011. The forum included discussions about changes in directors' and officers' liability insurance in reaction to regulatory developments and the reputational landscape. Alex Davidson, Thomson Reuters, May 26th 2011 |
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