The International Association of Insurance Supervisors proposesto limit participation of “observers”—including insuranceindustry associations, lawyers, consultants, non-governmentalorganizations and consumer advocates.

In an Oct. 11 memo, the IAIS tells observersthey ”will not take part in Task Force, Working Group orCommittee meetings,” except in certain sessions ordialogues. Instead, observers can submit writtencomments in response to surveys or questionnaires “asnecessary.”

How much observers are held at bay from key subcommittee work isstill up for discussion, according to sources in Taipei, site of anupcoming IAIS meeting. If the memo stands as policy theindustry, whp pay hefty dues to be an “observer,” would be walledoff from the process.

One U.S. industry person called it a seizure of insurance policyworldwide by a few with certain interests, including the FinancialStability Board leadership. Another called the tone ofthe IAIS memo from Executive Committee Chair PeterBraumüller “imperious.”

The IAIS has been criticized as being too close to the insuranceindustry, and now that the IAIS is developing a first-everglobal capital standard globally for insurers, it needs to proceedwithout too much industry influence. The industry is stillcalling foul.

Read Also: IAISPlans to Develop Global Insurance Capital Standards by2016

Without commenting on any specific proposal, Dave Snyder,international supervisory vice president with the Property CasualtyInsurers Association says, ”Now is the time transparencyshould be maximized.”

Snyder says he hopes transparency “will take theform of all insurance industry observers having full access toall IAIS deliberations, which is particularly importantconsidering the initiatives IAIS has embarked upon and theimportance of those initiatives to industry, markets andconsumers.

“I can appreciate that there are many questions about our plansto increase the IAIS' efficiency, and we plan to personally discussthe matters further with members and observers during our meetingsthis week,” IAIS spokesperson Andrew Stolfi says.

He said that the IAIS package of measures is meant to bring theIAIS' processes and procedures up to date to meet the increasedrole the IAIS has taken within the international financialcommunity over the last several years.

The NAIC could not immediately be reached for comment, as manystaff and members were in Taipei for the meeting.