Risky Business, Regulator At Work In Baghdad

By Daniel Hays

NU Online News Service, June 11, 2:48 p.m. EDT?Unperturbed by views of bomb rubble and a blast that missed him by minutes last month, Mike Pickens is upbeat and optimistic as he labors to reconstruct the insurance industry in war- torn Iraq.[@@]

The insurance market prospect for the country, which has a population of 26 million, is one with "a lot of potential," said Mr. Pickens, who is maintaining electronic links to his post as Arkansas insurance commissioner while working as an advisor in Iraq.

He is serving as an independent contractor for Bearing Point, the McLean Va.-based firm (formerly KPMG consulting), which last July secured a $79.5 million Iraq economic rehabilitation contract from the United States Agency for International Development.

Communicating with a reporter via a wavering cell-phone connection and e-mail, Mr. Pickens said that when he arrived for an unexpected assignment that began in early March, he was surprised at "the level of sophistication in the market and wide variety of products."

His work has involved creating a draft insurance law that complies with international best practices and generating suggested regulations to accompany the law. Training for regulators and Iraqis involved with the industry is also part of his agenda.

Mr. Pickens said he can't discuss wearing a flak jacket or other security precautions, but he has "always felt very safe" while working in Baghdad--this despite a close call May 6.

On that day, he went through security and crossed the July 14 Bridge to his office at the Coalition Provisional Authority. Four minutes later, a suicide car bomber roared into the same checkpoint and set off an explosion killing one soldier and five Iraqis.

The blast blew out the back windows in his residence less than a mile away as well as a window at his office. The slain GI, who had just checked his I.D., was an Arkansas native. The event left Mr. Pickens distraught, "It bothers you to lose one from home," he said.

Mr. Pickens mentioned his concern that U.S. national news programs focus on the violence and fail to show "a lot of good work going on here."

The Iraqis he works with on the industry project, he said, are knowledgeable, cooperative and hopeful--"looking forward to a much brighter future."

He meets weekly with the general managers of the nation's seven insurers. Iraq's insurance marketplace, he explained, has three government-owned insurance companies and four private carriers. Reinsurance must be purchased through the government carrier.

The commissioner said mandatory auto liability coverage is a government program funded by a gasoline tax.

The country had a good insurance market through the 1970's when it was hurt by sanctions following the first Gulf War. Products besides motor insurance include key man life insurance, homeowners, commercial insurance and engineering insurance. The last is a combination of coverages providing protection against plant facility risks, machinery equipment or contract works. It may also include professional liability, general liability and other package coverage.

Marine underwriting is also big, he said. Private insurers have been able to write business since 1998 when Iraq passed a law to that effect. At this point they primarily write life business, but may be authorized tow rite some p-c as well, he said.

Recently, the statute he worked to develop was endorsed by the outgoing finance minister and has been sent to the Coalition Provisional Authority but action on insurance matters has taken a back seat during the formation of a new government. The measure is presently being translated into Arabic, he said.

Mr. Pickens commented he could not say what kind of insurance sales and market volume exists in Iraq because he has not done any analysis of the market.

During his tour, Mr. Pickens found time to visit the remains of Saddam Hussein's bombed out nuclear bunker, but 12-plus-hour days, six or seven days a week, have been the norm. Being away from his wife and two young children is hard, he said.

He has been heartened by hundreds of Iraqi youngsters he sees peddling small items and hanging out with GIs. "The kids love everything American and Western," he related.

Mr. Pickens is looking forward to a seminar program set for the end of the month in Amman, Jordan that will bring Iraqis together with their foreign counterparts in the insurance industry.

According to USAID, Bearing Point lists as its future plans: the implementation of the insurance law in its final form, developing an insurance regulatory agency and creating an Iraqi Reinsurance Association.

Mr. Pickens said he thought the Iraq insurance market has good chance of success because the nations involved with the Coalition want to see an open economy.

"The Iraqis have a hopeful future," he predicted.

Special Reports /

Risky Business, Regulator At Work In Baghdad

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