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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

The SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa) Inclusive Insurance Training Programme: focus on climate change and technology | 4-12 October

The Inclusive Insurance Training Programme organised by A2ii, IAIS and the Toronto Centre was the second training successfully delivered as a blended learning of self-paced modules and live meetings on the new Connect.a2ii platform. 

The focus of the training programme was on climate change and innovation. It featured a special session in partnership with the Sustainable Insurance Forum and the UK's Bank of England on integrating climate-related risks into regulatory frameworks. Other topics also covered during the training, included the role of the insurance supervisor in creating an enabling environment for inclusive insurance, the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs), and the impact of Covid-19 on financial inclusion. 

In total, 23 participants joined from across 13 countries and authorities. During the live sessions, participants were able to engage and learn from one another and the programme leaders.

The live sessions were led by experts on regulation and inclusive insurance - Patricia Vargas, Andrea Camargo, Michael Kofi Andoh and Janice Angove. Throughout the training, participants addressed specific issues in inclusive insurance in their jurisdictions through the development of action plans. 

Workshop on 'The role of insurance regulators in advancing financial education, financial inclusion and financial consumer protection' | 22 October 2021

The workshop was ''organised by the OECD/INFE Technical Assistance Project for Financial Education in the Constituency Program of the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands and the Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) of the Republic of North Macedonia. The half-day event enabled peer learning among seven South-East European countries on this topic. The half-day event aimed to enable peer learning among seven South-East European countries on this topic. It was attended by about 80 public and private sector representatives.

Hui Lin Chiew from the A2ii presented on the panel 'The international perspective - Experiences in the field of insurance', moderated by the ISA alongside speakers from the EU, Romania and Armenia. She emphasised the importance of financial education to inclusive insurance and spoke about insurance supervisory roles and initiatives in emerging markets, drawing on A2ii's capacity building programmes to share examples from Bulgaria, Kosovo, Argentina and Nepal.

Speakers from Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy also shared their experiences and personal stories. Low insurance literacy is a key concern among almost all jurisdictions, and a wide array of media, content and outreach strategies are currently being implemented. Many acknowledged a close link between financial inclusion and education. Industry representatives also discussed how they collaborate with the regulator and take measures to ensure the neutrality of the literacy material, such as ensuring the materials are vetted by the regulator and ensuring no conflict of interest. Speakers underlined the importance of public-private partnerships to enable the implementation of financial education initiatives.

Final Presentation of the Morocco Inclusive Insurance Innovation Lab Team Results | 26 October 

At the event hosted by the Moroccan insurance supervisor ACAPS and the Moroccan Federation of Insurers and Reinsurers (FMSAR), the Inclusive Insurance Innovation Lab Morocco Team presented their prototype to the Moroccan Insurance Industry. Over 60 participants took part.  

The Lab ran from March 2020 and is expected to end in November 2021. The teams of Argentina, Morocco, India and Rwanda have worked on increasing insurance awareness through social media, radio campaigns, caller tunes or university competitions. 

The Moroccan team has pushed the thinking on how to make use of digital tools to improve the customer experience, especially that of first-time microinsurance clients. Salma Berrada Souni, ACAPS, together with Salahedinne Aji, FMSAR, presented their prototype of a digital WhatsApp interface where clients can access a simple health insurance product, i.e. hospital cash, through chat and pay using loyalty points from one of the main loyalty programs in Morocco. In addition, the team developed the idea further by integrating access to health information and other additional services. 

Hannah Grant, Head of the A2ii Secretariat, spoke at the event and expressed her hope that the developments would inspire the insurance stakeholders to take the lab output forward and reach those who need it most to make a difference in their lives. 

Session 7 at the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII) | 26 October

A2ii moderated session 7 organised by the IAIS Financial Inclusion Forum (FIF) during the second day of the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII). The topic was 'Will insurance be more inclusive in a post-pandemic world? Supervisory and policy perspectives'.

Speakers included Tomás Soley, Superintendent at Superintendencia General de Seguros, Costa Rica and Chair of the IAIS Financial Inclusion Forum, Manuela Zweimueller, Head of Implementation, International Association of Insurance Supervisors, Miles Larbey, Head of Financial Consumer Protection from the OECD and Nilhofer Sohail, Head of Channel Strategy and Execution of EFU Life, Pakistan.

The FIF Chair, Tomás Soley credited the forum for being an invaluable platform for supervisory and peer exchange during the pandemic, and he shared initial observations from the FIF's work on Covid-19.  The panellists highlighted how the pandemic had set back previous financial inclusion gains however it was equally providing the sector with an opportunity to highlight the benefits of insurance especially for the uninsured.  Digitalisation was an underlying theme and while the benefits for financial inclusion went undisputed, the panellists did warn of the potential risks, including an observation from the OECD on how 'digital literacy is not necessarily making people financially literate'.

Session 20 at the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII) | 29 October

A2ii participated in session 20 of the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance titled ‘How can insurance supervisors adapt to drive innovations?’. 

The panel discussed the risks and opportunities in innovation and emphasised that both regulators and industry need to be open to engagement. Hui Lin Chiew (A2ii) highlighted how the mandates of insurance supervisors across developing countries have shifted in recent years, the front-of-mind new risks from innovation for insurance supervisors, and pointed out the A2ii Supervisory KPIs Lexicon, a tool that supervisors can use to more methodically monitor and measure gaps in market development.
 

Upcoming events

A2ii-IAIS Public Dialogue on Pandemic Risk: Opportunities to improve insurability | 25 November

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted economic activity in countries around the world and has undermined the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  This disruption has resulted in significant losses that are likely to be absorbed by policyholders since pandemic-related risks are inherently challenging and complex to insure. However, the pandemic does provide an opportunity for the insurance sector to explore the availability of innovative products that respond to emerging large-scale risks. It also provides an opportunity for the private and public sectors, including insurance regulators, to play a role in finding a viable solution and supporting financial resilience against future pandemics. 

Join us in discussing these topics on 25 November at the A2ii-IAIS Public Dialogue on Pandemic Risk: Opportunities to Improve Insurability. Participants will hear from speakers representing international organisations, practitioners from the insurance industry and select supervisory authorities who will share their experiences as it relates to addressing the pandemic risk gap and the role that governments, insurance supervisors and the insurance sector as a whole can play in pandemic risk initiatives.

This webinar will be open to all stakeholders and will take place at 14:00 CET in English (with simultaneous Spanish and French interpretation). It will last one hour and will take place via WebEx. Register now on our website.

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

Twitter Interview on the Role of Insurance Supervisors in Boosting Women's Access to Insurance | 24 November

Join us on 24 November at 16:00 CET for a chat via live tweets on Twitter on our recent report on on 'The Role of Insurance Supervisors in Boosting Women's Access to Insurance'. Katherine Miles and Manoj Pandey, authors of the report, will answer questions via live tweets. 

Click here to see your local time zone.

We welcome you to follow along via our Twitter account or to ask your questions by tagging @a2ii_org and  and using the hashtags #a2iiTwitterview. You may ask questions in advance or live. 

Click here for more information.

Panel Discussion at the Geneva Association's General Assembly | 11 November

Hannah Grant, Head of the Secretariat of A2ii will participate in the Economic & Social Equity and the Insurance Sector panel discussion at the Geneva Association's General Assembly on 11 November.

The session will explore the global phenomena of widening economic and social inequity and the resulting societal urgency for systemic and innovative solutions from stakeholders including private insurers. The panel will focus on economic equity as a moral, societal and business imperative for insurers, how the industry can further contribute to easing key societal gaps and what practical steps insurers can and must take to move toward more equitable and sustainable outcomes. 

IAIS Annual Conference | 15-18 November

The IAIS annual conference will take place during the week of 15 November, where Members of the Executive Committee will present the IAIS’ activities from this year and plans for 2022.

The Annual Conference programme includes four panel discussions: 

•    Climate scenario analysis: Developing the tools to understand climate risk; 
•    Global Monitoring Exercise: A changing landscape for the insurance sector; 
•    Pandemic risk: The role of supervisors in addressing future pandemic risk; and 
•    Innovation: Governance and ethics of artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

The conference is free and is open to all. Members can register via the IAIS extranet and non-Members can register on the IAIS public website.

 Publications

A2ii 2020 Annual Report

In the blog post 'Empowering Regulators - Developing Communities: A2ii 2020 Annual Report' Hannah Grant, the Head of A2ii Secretariat introduces the report of A2ii's activities for 2020 - a year marked by the breakout of the global pandemic and changing circumstances.

She tackles the questions of how did supervisors cope, how did A2ii adjust to meet the new normal and supervisory needs, and what is the outlook for building back a more resilient world?

The 2020 Annual Report provides a full overview of A2ii's regional interventions across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the CEET as well as across topics of Pandemic Risk, Proportionate Regulation and Supervision, Climate and Disaster Risk, Digitalisation, Gender, Index Insurance and Retirement and Pensions. 

Click here to download the report. 

Newsflash

Ghana's new insurance law aims to increase insurance penetration and allow for new innovative insurers

The new Insurance Act 2021 (Act 1061) has been enacted in Ghana. It aims at strengthening corporate governance, deepening the insurance penetration and increasing access to insurance for the population.
Particularly mentioned are farmers, those in the informal sector, and those with low incomes. The informal sector in Ghana is substantial. 

'The new Act will help to fill the gaps in the previous Act, enable both the industry and the NIC to comply with international standards and best practices, and promote innovation and inclusivity' said Michael Kofi Andoh, Deputy Commissioner of Insurance, National Insurance Commission.

Click here to read the full newsflash.

To learn more about the latest in inclusive insurance regulations in Sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide, see our Inclusive Insurance Regulations Map. 

 Blog

Supervision of climate-related risks in the insurance sector

By Carolyn Barsulai
 
Climate change is no longer seen as a projection for emerging or new risks but an ongoing reality that threatens the stability of the financial system and the insurance sector as a whole. Supervisors are increasingly recognising the importance of their role in addressing climate risks. In some jurisdictions, supervisory authorities have launched various initiatives to address climate-related risks in their markets. 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).