Regulator At Work In Baghdad

Communicating with a reporter over a wavering cellphone connection and by 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 cant discuss wearing a flak jacket or other security, 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 identification, was an Arkansas native. "It bothers you to lose one from home," he said.

Mr. Pickens said he is concerned by the fact that U.S. national news programs focus on the violence and fail to show "a lot of good work going on here." He said the Iraqis he works with on the industry project are knowledgeable, cooperative and hopeful "looking forward to a much brighter future."

Mr. Pickens 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 1970s, 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 coverages.

Marine underwriting is also big, Mr. Pickens 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 to write some property-casualty 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 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 had time to visit the remains of Saddam Hussein's nuclear bunker, but 12-plus-hour days, six or seven days a week, have been the norm. And being away from his wife and two young children has been hard, he said.

He has been heartened, he said, 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 said he was 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 said.

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Mike Pickens squeezed in a trip to the remains of Saddam Husseins nuclear bunker, but otherwise finds little time away from his work as an insurance consultant on call in Iraq.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, June 11, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.