NAIC Maintains Global Outlook

Alessandro Iuppa, president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, told an international gathering today that the organization has helped spread “sensible regulatory practices in financial services.”

Speaking at the 22nd Progress International Seminar of the Geneva Association, Mr. Iuppa said the NAIC remains committed to international regulatory cooperation in the area of standards setting, global economic security and technical expertise.

Mr. Iuppa noted the NAIC's involvement in the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), the Joint Forum, Financial Stability Forum, and the recent endorsement of the model Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), designed to facilitate information exchange between U.S. and European insurance supervisors.

“Working with regulators from around the world, NAIC members participate in, and in many cases lead, the global spread of sensible regulatory practices in financial services,” said Mr. Iuppa, who also serves as chairman of the IAIS Executive Committee.

He said, “Effective and regular communication among the market participants, consumers, lawmakers and regulators from around the world goes a long way to ensuring that market participants have a basic understanding of the market, market dynamics, the resultant new financial products, and what is necessary for new markets to flourish.”

The NAIC has played an important role in developing international accounting standards, he said, adding that it has monitored and provided input to the IASB since the early stages.

Since 1999 the NAIC also has developed bilateral relations with countries around the world. The first was establishment of a twice-yearly regulatory dialogue with the European Commission and member country regulators “to better understand our regulatory systems,” Mr. Iuppa said, noting that the US-EU dialogue has developed into a “recognized forum of structured exchange between regulators and supervisors on both sides of the Atlantic.”

U.S. insurance regulators are also taking part in the formation of Solvency II global insurance capital standards. As part of the effort, he said, the EU has urged the U.S. to share its experience with the risk-based capital system “and to comment on ways in which Solvency II might be made more compatible with the U.S. approach.”