Lloyd's Levene Calls For Honesty, Transparency

NU Online News Service, April 18, 4:18 p.m. EDT, Philadelphia?Lloyd's Chairman Lord Peter Levene in remarks prepared for delivery tonight calls on the insurance industry to adopt an honesty and transparency plan to restore confidence in the marketplace.[@@]

Lord Levene is scheduled to address business leaders at the Philadelphia Club.

His talk calls on the industry to take four steps:

? Eliminate conflicts of interest and increase transparency.

? Work with regulators to develop and require adoption of ethical principles of behavior.

? Communicate more effectively to those outside the industry how the insurance business works.

? Work with boards of directors, CEOs, CFOs?and not just risk managers?to demonstrate that managing risk seriously is a critical element of good corporate governance.

"If we are to retain the confidence of the key player in all of this?the customer?we need full disclosure and complete transparency about who is doing what exactly, for whom, on what terms and at precisely what cost," says Lord Levene.

"Becoming more transparent also means doing a better job of communicating how we work to those outside our industry. And this is a truth which applies not just to the insurance industry but to all 21st century businesses," he continues.

Lord Levene notes that in the insurance industry, the world's largest brokers now have taken decisive action and abandoned the practice of contingent commissions to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

Lloyd's, he says, is taking a collaborative approach to working with its U.K. regulator, the Financial Services Authority, to help deliver efficient business processes in the London insurance market.

"We need to move away from a strictly rule-book mentality, avoiding the creation of yet more paperwork and bureaucracy. And in its place, we can work with our regulators to develop and require adoption of ethical principles of behavior," he says.

"After three investigations in almost as many years into the investment banking, mutual fund and insurance industries, the financial services sector is certainly learning lessons. It has been left with a tarnished image in the minds of consumers, regulators and commentators.

"As a sector, the very business of financial services is based on trust, and we can no longer be in doubt that governance and proper conduct must take their place at the top of the agenda," he says.

Lord Levene also points out that managing corporate reputation is becoming more important then ever, and that the recent issues have tarnished the entire sector, not just "the few bad apples in the barrel."

A full text of the speech can be found at www.lloyds.com.

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Lloyd's Levene Calls For Honesty, Transparency

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