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Welcome! In this newsletter, we provide you with updates on the work of the A2ii, events and publications, and experiences and learning on inclusive insurance regulation and supervision across jurisdictions over the past month.

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The A2ii taking precautionary measures related to Covid-19

To safeguard the well-being of the A2ii staff and its partners, the A2ii is currently conducting all its activities through virtual formats. As soon as it is possible, we will announce a return to physical events. The A2ii will continue to communicate any changes pertaining to our events on our website, social media channels and through our newsletter.

Recent events

Inclusive Insurance Training Programme for CEET Supervisors Launches | 28 June 

The A2ii and the Toronto Centre launched the first training for supervisors on the new A2ii learning platform, Connect.a2ii. The training is delivered as a combination of self-paced learning modules and live sessions with trainers. The topics include regulation and supervision for inclusive insurance, the role of the supervisor, climate-related risks, uses of technology, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and the impact of Covid-19.

Over the course of the training, participants develop an action plan to solve a problem in their jurisdiction. The focus of this training is on the CEET region (Central and Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia).

Insurance supervisors from more than sixteen jurisdictions met for the first time on 28 June during an engaging onboarding session.

About the Inclusive Insurance Training Programme 

The training programme is built on the IAIS Application Paper on “Regulation and Supervision Supporting Inclusive Insurance Markets” and allows participants to expand their existing supervisory skills and knowledge to develop the leadership skills needed to make positive change. This programme has a focus on how climate change and technology are impacting access to insurance and supervision.  While registrations for the CEET training is now closed and participation is at full capacity, an upcoming training targeting the Sub-Saharan Africa region will be taking place in October.

Second Meeting of the Microinsurance Working Group (GTMS) of Argentina | 17 June

On June 17, the second meeting of the Microinsurance Working Group (GTMS) of Argentina took place, jointly led by the Ministry of Economy (MECON) and the Superintendencia de Seguros de la Nación (SSN), the Insurance Authority. The meeting was moderated by the National Director of Capital Markets and Insurance, Víctor Fuentes Castillo, and the General Manager of Coordination of the SSN, Ana Durañona y Vedia, and about 50 representatives of the public and private sectors participated.

During the first part of the meeting, a debate was held on ‘Microcredit in Argentina’ followed by a discussion on ‘Insurance and Microcredits’. Finally, in the third session, the A2ii regional coordinator for Latin America, Regina Simões, provided an international example on the topic presenting the experience of Brazil in the development of its microinsurance market..

The topics addressed seek to consolidate the main objectives of the working group, aimed at analysing the practices and operation of concrete experiences to promote insurance aimed at vulnerable sectors. In this pandemic context, all participants agree on the importance of this service as a tool for inclusion.
 

IDF Summit Panel | 8 June

On 8 June, Hannah Grant, A2ii participated in a panel discussion on ‘Legal and Regulatory Impediments to Enhancing Resilience Through Insurance’ at the Insurance Development Forum’s Summit. On the panel, the A2ii was joined by a mix of public and private representatives who shared their perspectives on how fit for purpose are today’s regulatory systems for enhancing resilience and closing the protection gap, particularly to climate related risks. In its intervention, the A2ii highlighted the importance of insurance supervisors having a market development mandate in addition to their primary mandates focused on financial consumer protection and market conduct. Examples were also provided of how supervisors have supported the development of the insurance sector in their country through initiatives such as industry capacity building, launching regulatory sandboxes and creating open forums for industry interaction. The discussion also touched on the need for supervisory approaches to be adapted to better account for prudential risks caused by climate risk to ensure the sector as a whole can remain resilient. 

This panel was part of a two day summit which attracted over 1,000 delegates from across 90 countries. Global figures including the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, the President of the World Bank, and the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance joined leaders from the UN, international institutions, governments, humanitarians and leading international insurance brokers and carriers. They debated how the global insurance industry and the public sector could further work together to understand and manage climate risk and its related challenges, to build resilience for those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Beema Samiti Presents One-Year Action Plan | 25 June

On 26 March, A2ii, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Beema Samiti (Insurance Board of Nepal) kicked off a series of eight weekly workshops to discuss how to enable digital and inclusive insurance in Nepal.
This culminated in a ‘Pitch Day’ on 25 June, where the Beema Samiti team presented their 1-year action plan to a high-level panel, which comprised: Mr Surya Prasad Silwal, Chairman of Beema Samiti; Mr Raju Raman Poudel, Executive Director of Beema Samiti; Mr Christopher Wolff, Inclusive Digital Economy Expert at UNCDF and Ms Hannah Grant, Head of Secretariat of the A2ii. The action plan sets out how Beema Samiti will engage with the insurance sector and inclusive insurance consumers moving forward. Over the next year, Beema Samiti will be implementing the action plan, alongside monthly catch-up calls between the three organisations.

Mr Wolff encouraged the team to maximise this window of opportunity to fully realise the benefits of digitalisation: 'This is a great time to do this, when people’s awareness of risk is higher than usual because of Covid-19'. While the environment is difficult right now, Mr Wolff notes that it is nevertheless a timely awareness-generating event and digitalisation can help achieve outreach, cost efficiency and customer-centricity.

Ms Grant congratulated the Beema Samiti team and thanked Beema Samiti and UNCDF for the opportunity to work together and learn. 'It is not really a closing ceremony, but rather the finishing of the first phase and commencing of the implementation period. A2ii is happy to stay in contact and bring in global experience and peer exchange to support the journey'.

Mr Surya Prasad Silwal summed it up: 'I believe the one-year action plan developed by the team will help us drive the development of the microinsurance market in Nepal and contribute to the achievement of the ambitious target of increasing the insurance penetration to 33% of the population by the end of the coming fiscal year. It definitely requires hard work as well as intellectual, financial and human resources…Therefore let me wish all of us a lot of energy, enthusiasm and resolve on our way'.

A blog post on key learnings from the workshop is published on our website (see blog section below for more details).

The UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs). UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF pursues innovative financing solutions through: (1) financial inclusion, which expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the local economy, while also providing differentiated products for women and men so they can climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; (2) local development finance, which shows how fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion, women’s economic empowerment, climate adaptation, and sustainable development; and (3) a least developed countries investment platform that deploys a tailored set of financial instruments to a growing pipeline of impactful projects in the "missing middle."

Beema Samiti is the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Nepal. It was constituted to systematize, regularize, develop, and regulate the country's insurance business under the Insurance Act, 1992. BS looks after all the insurance-related activities in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. As a regulatory body, BS's primary concern is to create a professional, healthy, and developed insurance market in Nepal. It is formed as an autonomous body as per the Insurance Act of 1992.

The A2ii is a unique global partnership working to inspire and support insurance supervisors to promote inclusive and responsible insurance. As the implementation arm of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), A2ii identifies supervisory needs, develops tailored capacity building programmes, translates knowledge gained from the regions into global learning tools, contributes to the IAIS standard-setting activities, and supports the development and implementation of sound regulatory frameworks. The A2ii's ultimate aim is to advance insurance markets globally and reduce low-income populations' vulnerability to risk.

Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Second Plenary Meeting | 24-25 June

During the meeting, which was held under this year’s Italian G20 Presidency, the GPFI’s Implementing Partners updated attending members about the progress made in the implementation of the Partnership’s 2021 work programme.

This year, the focus of the GPFI is on assessing the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the financial inclusion of the most vulnerable sections of the population and micro-enterprises. Based on this analysis the partnership seeks to identify actions needed to bridge the gaps created by the crisis to build more equitable and inclusive financial systems.  In support of these objectives, the GPFI’s Implementing Partners, which are comprised of a group of international organisations, are preparing five complementary reports set to inform a series of ‘best practices’ to be delivered by the Italian G20 Presidency in October.

The A2ii is an Affiliated Partner of the GPFI, working to ensure that both inclusive insurance and the role of insurance supervisors are considered in the discussions and policy outputs. In 2021, we seek to highlight how insurance, especially digitally enabled insurance can contribute to enhancing resilience and narrowing the protection gap exposed by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Upcoming events

A2ii-IAIS Supervisory Dialogue on Climate-related risks in the insurance sector | 8 July

Globally, there is an increasing understanding and awareness of the potential impact of climate change on the financial system, including the insurance sector. Climate change, and the corresponding adaptation and mitigation initiatives, such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), are expected to have wide-ranging impacts on the structure and functioning of the global economy and financial system. For the insurance industry, climate change also presents an opportunity to build greater resilience. Meanwhile for supervisors, an adequate response will be required to address both the risks and opportunities emerging from climate change, including meeting the objectives of protecting policyholders, contributing to financial stability and promoting the maintenance of a fair, safe, and stable insurance market.

On 8 July, the A2ii and IAIS will be hosting a dialogue based on the Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) and IAIS joint Application Paper on the Supervision of Climate-Related Risks in the Insurance Sector. The paper aims to support supervisors in their efforts to integrate climate risk considerations into the supervision of the insurance sector. 

Participants will hear from experts from the SIF and IAIS who will present highlights from the application paper as well as invited supervisory authorities from Chile, Morocco, and South Africa who will share experiences related to supervision of climatic risks in emerging and developing markets.

This webinar will be open to supervisors only and will take place at 10:00 CEST in English (with simultaneous French interpretation) and 16:00 CEST in English (with simultaneous Spanish interpretation). It will last one hour and will take place via WebEx.

Click here to register.

If you have any questions or comments, please send them to dialogues@a2ii.org.

Webinar on ESG Factors and Insurer Performance | 19 July

On 19 July, Hannah Grant, Head of Secretariat of the A2ii, will speak at a webinar hosted by the Insurance Regulators Education Foundation and Griffith Institute for Insurance Education on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and the role of insurance regulation. Hannah will join an esteemed panel of experts to examine ESG in insurance from various perspectives, especially those related to financial inclusion and climate change. 

The other panellists are Abhishek Varma, Associate Professor at Illinois State University and Sean Kevelighan, President and CEO of the Insurance Information Institute. The panel will be moderated by James Jones, Executive Director of the Katie School of Insurance and Risk Management at Illinois State University.

This is first of several webinars that will be taking place in July. The webinars were created in lieu of the in-person educational programs for insurance regulators normally held at the Katie School at Illinois State University in the summer.

This webinar will take place on 19 July at 15:30 EDT. Click here for more information and to register.

Apply now for the SSA Inclusive Insurance Training Programme: focus on climate change and technology | 12 September

Are you an insurance supervisor from Sub-Saharan Africa? Would you like to gain a better understanding of how themes such as climate change and technology are impacting the insurance sector?  Apply by 12 September for the Inclusive Insurance Training Programme from A2ii and the Toronto Centre, offered free of charge to insurance supervisors. 

The Programme is a combination of self-paced learning modules and live virtual sessions taking place in English from 4 to 12 October 2021. 

For supervisors wishing to participate from other regions, please register and the A2ii Secretariat will contact you depending on available spaces.  For more information, please click here.

Regional Conference on Inclusive Insurance in the CEET region | 1-2 September

Access to affordable insurance plays an important role in sustainable economic development. There is a need for all stakeholders to work together in addressing the insurance protection gap in the region. The significant uninsured exposure to national catastrophes remains a particular challenge of climate change.

Policymakers need to align their disaster prevention and relief efforts with additional risk management tools, such as insurance, to facilitate market development.

Representatives from supervisory authorities, the industry and stakeholders involved in inclusive insurance are invited to discuss how new tech-enabled business models and supervisory approaches could help increase the very low insurance penetration rates across Central and Eastern Europe and the Transcaucasian (CEET) region.

This virtual event is hosted by the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), Insurance Supervision Agency of Slovenia (AZN), International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), Munich Re Foundation, and the Microinsurance Network (MiN). It will take place on 1-2 September, divided into four sessions:

Session 1: Overview of the Inclusive Insurance landscape in the CEET Region
Session 2: Climate risk and agricultural insurance
Session 3: Digitalisation
Session 4: How to create value for customers

Registration is open now at this link.

 Blog

Lessons so far: Beema Samiti-A2ii-UNCDF insurance supervisory capacity building support on inclusive and digital insurance

by Hui Lin Chiew

What is it that makes digital, inclusive insurance possible – what kind of demand, supply or regulatory environment? What can the regulator reasonably do to provide such an environment, and how should a regulator go about planning and implementing this? Read more...

 Useful Tools on Our Website

Covid-19 Insurance Supervisory Response Tracker

Global tracker of supervisory responses, insurance news and learning resources. Share relevant news with us via secretariat@a2ii.org, by tagging Access to Insurance Initiative on LinkedIn or by mentioning us on Twitter.

Supervisory KPIs Lexicon

Interactive, searchable directory of KPIs for insurance supervisors across four pillars: prudential soundness, market conduct, insurance market development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Inclusive Insurance Regulations Map

The interactive map incorporates data about existing inclusive insurance regulation and regulation which supports inclusive insurance sourced through A2ii's research, work and interaction with supervisory authorities worldwide. 

Insurance and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The SDG pages include resources on the importance and the role of insurance across nine SDGs: 01 No Poverty, 10 Reduced Inequalities, 02 Zero Hunger, 03 Good Health and Well-being, 05 Gender Equality, 08 Decent Work and Economic Growth, 09 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, 13 Climate Change and 17 Partnerships for the Goals.

ICP Self-assessment Tool

The tool is intended to help supervisors assess the level of observance of the Insurance Core Principles (ICPs).