Public Peter Braumüller Welcome Remarks for IAIS Annual Conference Amsterdam 23 October 2014 Thank you, Joanne. Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the 21st IAIS Annual Conference. On behalf of the IAIS it is my pleasure to welcome you to Amsterdam. I want to begin this morning by recognizing and thanking our hosts, De Nederlandsche Bank, for organising and putting on this key IAIS event. As you can probably guess, it takes countless hours and hard work to make this event possible. For that, and for DNB’s long and generous support of the IAIS and our mission, you have our most sincere appreciation. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 1 of 7 This year marks both the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the IAIS and the 200th Anniversary of the founding of De Nederlandsche Bank. As someone who enjoys history, our joint birthdays provided a welcome opportunity to read about the founding and growth of De Nederlandsche Bank. While I was reading about this fascinating history I was struck by a number of similarities between DNB and the IAIS. Now don’t get me wrong, the IAIS and De Nederlandsche Bank have their obvious differences, but what struck me was the similar way in which each organisation has evolved from its founding to the present day. For example, in a history of DNB found on its website, the bank describes itself at the time of its founding in 1814 as the “newcomer” in an established system and goes on to state that its “influence and reach for a long time remained limited to Amsterdam.” This of course did not remain the case for long. By the second quarter of its existence, DNB began to develop into a real national bank and, notably, started to impose standards on national banks. Its role as a banking supervisor therefore began to take shape. During the next quarter of its history DNB solidified its role as a true central bank, with its more recent history seeing it emerge as a guardian of financial stability. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 2 of 7 Like De Nederlandsche Bank, the IAIS began its life as a newcomer to the then-well-established international standard setting club, and our reach and influence did not initially extend far beyond our own membership. By the second quarter of our existence this, however, also began to change. Our move to Basel and the establishment of an independent Secretariat saw the IAIS begin to develop into a real international standard setter, with the subsequent adoption of our first set of ICPs firmly fixing our shape. And, like De Nederlandsche Bank, the IAIS’ most recent history has also seen it emerge as a key player in the global effort to ensure financial stability. In addition to this comparative look back in time, I also found it interesting to think about what the IAIS may achieve by the time it celebrates its 200th Anniversary in the year 2194. By then ComFrame will have been in place for 175 years, although it will probably have been renamed the Common Framework for the Supervision of Inter-galactically Active Insurance Groups. Also, instead of always fretting over the one person who forgets to hit the mute button during a conference call we will be debating whether it is acceptable to join a hologram call in your pyjamas. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 3 of 7 And, last but not least, I anticipate that we will be celebrating as the last – and with a local population of less than 100, smallest – remaining insurance supervisor joins the IAIS MMoU – the Financial Services Authority of the Pitcairn Group of Islands. Apart from these changes there will also be things that remain stable. For example, I think we will likely just be welcoming our 3rd Secretary General as Yoshi will have finally announced his retirement after 192 years of service. In all seriousness, it has been truly remarkable to have witnessed our Association grow from a small group whose main focus was to enable supervisory cooperation and information exchange into the international insurance standard setter and an integral part of the effort to ensure global financial stability. This growth has no doubt been due to the tireless efforts of our Members who, despite our occasional differences, have always been able to come together around our shared goal of policyholder protection in order to reach the best possible outcome. On behalf of all our Members past and present, I thank you for all that you have done over the last 20 years and, as I am sure you do too, I can’t wait to see what the future will bring. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 4 of 7 Turning now to this year’s Conference, I want to now briefly introduce its theme and topics. The theme for our Annual Conference is Enhancing policyholder protection and financial stability through governance and risk management; we are glad to have two days of discussions and presentations from some of the leading supervisors and insurance professionals in the world. Here are some highlights of what you can expect. First, in addition to celebrating what our Association has accomplished over the last 20 years, it is also important to look forward to the challenges our Members will face in the future. The first session will do just this. Several economic, financial and insurance experts will discuss what society and our economic system might look like in the future, what could drive development of the financial sector and what emerging risks the industry may face. Next, we will turn our attention to the suite of international capital standards the IAIS has begun to develop, from Basic Capital Requirements applicable to G-SIIs to the first-ever risk-based global Insurance Capital Standard. A panel will discuss key issues raised during the development of these capital standards, with a particular focus on next steps in the development of the ICS. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 5 of 7 Following that panel will be a discussion of financial inclusion. As I am sure you will agree, greater financial inclusion has positive effects on economic growth and the reduction of income inequality. The financial inclusion challenge, however, is broad and does not limit itself to emerging markets, as financial exclusion and un- and under-insured segments of society exists in developed countries as well. Our first day will conclude with a panel discussing the occasional tension between regulations designed to protect consumers and financial soundness versus enabling innovations that can support financial inclusion and affordability. Our host will open the second day with a session presenting recent governance developments and thoughts on the effectiveness of governance frameworks. The speakers will present issues and challenges, provide insights into new supervisory methods and offer an exchange of views on how new supervisory approaches and a more behavioural approach by both industry and supervisors may contribute to achieving more effective corporate governance frameworks and a robust risk culture. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 6 of 7 An expert panel representing the view of supervisors, insurers and reinsurers will then discuss the interaction of capital markets with insurers’ business models and the effects that a prolonged low interest rate environment can have on this interaction. Then, our final panel will discuss the challenges of recovery and resolution planning from the perspective of resolution authorities as well as affected companies. Its aim is to present theoretical and practical views on recent developments from both the perspective of the supervisor and the supervised. In addition to these panels, we are also privileged to have two excellent Key Note Speakers - Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch Minister of Finance and John Huff, the Director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration. In closing, I would like to again thank De Nederlandsche Bank for hosting us this week and I look forward to the many engaging discussions we will have together over the course of this Conference. Public Annual Conference Welcome Remarks Page 7 of 7
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