NAIC Hosts International Issues Seminar

NAIC Hosts International Issues Seminar

NU Online News Service, Feb 22, 3:22 p.m. EST?The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will host an International Issues Conference Feb. 28 to March 1 in Washington.

The two-day seminar at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel will explore recent developments in international insurance regulation and global insurance markets, as well as trade-related issues, said the NAIC.

"Every day, new developments arise on the international front, and it is becoming increasingly imperative to keep pace with these developments," said NAIC President and Iowa Insurance Commissioner Terri Vaughan.

"This seminar presents a unique opportunity to hear from insurance experts from around the world -- including regulators from Japan, the U.K. and the European Commission -- on issues that are at the center of discussions in our increasingly global insurance marketplace," Ms. Vaughan added.

The keynote speakers include Andrew Crockett, chairman of the Financial Stability Forum.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the G-7 countries convened the Forum in April 1999 in Washington, D.C. "to promote international financial stability through information exchange and international cooperation in financial supervision and surveillance," according to the Forum's Web site.

The Forum receives support from "a small secretariat" located at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, where Mr. Crockett is general manager, according to the group's Web site.

The other keynote speaker will be Sy Sternberg, chairman, president and chief executive officer of New York Life Insurance Co.

Panel topics include "New Directions in Financial Services Oversight," "Insurance Regulation in the European Union," "IAIS: Setting Worldwide Insurance Standards" and "New Markets and Opportunities for Insurers," the NAIC said.

The NAIC said it's Education And Training Department at 816 783-8200 can arrange conference registration or provide more information about the session. Registration can also be processed via the regulators' Web site, www.naic.org/education or by e-mailing etrainin@naic.org.