The Korea Herald

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Korea to host insurance regulators’ meeting

By 김연세

Published : July 31, 2011 - 19:21

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FSS predicts about 200 officials to gather in Seoul in late September


Korea’s financial authorities are making their dispositions as the chair of one of the world’s three major regulatory meetings, slated for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Seoul.

This is the first time that the nation will host the annual conference of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, which will mark the 18th gathering since its establishment in 1994.

Under the theme of “Toward a new horizon for insurance supervision ― cross-sector & cross-border harmonization and cooperation,” the IAIS Conference 2011 will be held at the COEX in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.

“About 200 regulatory officials are expected to participate in the conference,” said Kim Soo-mi, spokeswoman for the Financial Supervisory Service in Korea. The FSS is the co-host of the global forum, along with the Financial Services Commission.

“Following the hosting of the Group of 20 Seoul Summit (last November), Korea’s chair of the insurance regulatory meeting is quite meaningful.”

Apart from global coordination to minimize risks in the banking industry, insurance regulators have stepped up to bolster oversight of companies since the 2008 global financial crisis.

A joint forum is also underway among the three global organizations for banking, securities and insurance supervision ― the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the IAIS.

The FSS and the FSC are poised to express the nation’s willingness to benchmark advanced countries’ insurance sector and share oversight know-how.

On the occasion of event, the Korean regulators are set to pave the way for local insurers to actively make inroads into overseas markers.

The main speakers will include FSC Chairman Kim Seok-dong, FSS Gov. Kwon Hyouk-se, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa, U.S. National Association of Insurance Commissioners CEO Therese M. Vaughan and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority vice chairwoman Monica Machler.

Among the sponsors for the conference are Samsung Life, Shinhan Life, Kyobo Life, Dongbu Insurance, Korean Re, Swiss Re, ING, Allianz, Prudential, KPMG, MetLife and Meritiz Insurance.

The IAIS represents insurance regulators of about 190 jurisdictions in 140 countries, constituting 97 percent of the world’s insurance premiums. It also has more than 120 observers.

The objective of the organization is to promote effective and globally consistent supervision of the insurance industry in order to develop and maintain fair, safe and stable insurance markets for the benefit and protection of policyholders.

The IAIS is headquartered in a building of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

The United Arab Emirates was chair of the 17th gathering in 2010.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)