Peter Braumüller, chair of the executive committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), discussed IAIS work on systemic risk at the PROGRES International Seminar hosted by the Geneva Association in Geneva Thursday, giving a timetable for the identification of global systemically important insurers (G-SIIs, or G-SIFIs stateside).
The IAIS said it currently expects the next phases of the G-SII project to include a two-month public consultation on the proposed assessment methodology scheduled from June at the earliest, followed by a second data call and a two-month public consultation on the potential G-SII policy measures, Braumüller stated.
At the request of the G20 Leaders and the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the IAIS has been developing the G-SII assessment methodology and policy measures.
"The global insurer data collection required for this project – the first ever on such a scale – has presented unique challenges, and we are grateful for the continued support of our members and the participating insurers," he stated.
The IAIS work is different than the U.S. efforts under The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in determining that U.S. non-bank such as an insurer is SIFI (a "systemically important financial institution") and will therefore be subject to federal as well as state regulation. Ostensibly, an insurer can be subject to both new global and domestic capital standards, or one and not the other. Or, of course, none.
It is unclear how if an insurer is subject to both, and the capital standards conflict, how that would be worked out.
However, comments by Federal Insurance Office Director (FIO) Michael McRaith at a forum in January suggested some alignment. "We–FIO–are working to develop an international process for designating globally systemically important insurers that aligns with the criteria and timing laid out by the [FSOC]," McRaith stated.
