Access to Insurance Initiative Newsletter December 2015

Visit us at www.a2ii.org

Our highlights in 2015

The Secretariat is closing the year with a great sense of accomplishment.

In 2015 we worked increasingly closely with the IAIS to support its implementation objectives as envisaged in its Coordinated Implementation Framework. In line with this our capacity building efforts were more regionally focused and for the first time our workplan was developed in consultation with IAIS members.

Of particular note:

• We organised 6 Consultation Calls providing supervisors with a chance to hear from an expert and exchange experiences with their peers on topical inclusive insurance issues. Across the six calls we were delighted to have received 350 registrations from supervisors representing almost 60 different countries.
  
  The secretariat team would like to thank all the topical expert presenters and supervisors who contributed to the Consultation Calls in 2015. In particular, the National Insurance Commission Ghana (NIC), Insurance Commission Philippines (IC), Superitendência de Seguros Privados Brazil (SUSEP) and Conférence Interafricaine des Marchés d' Assurances (CIMA) for frequently sharing their experiences and learnings with colleagues. In addition, we appreciate the support demonstrated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Jamaica and Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS) Peru for not only joining every single call but also for their valuable insights.  
  
  Click here to access the Consultation Call presentations and notes.
   
• We organised 2 Consultative Forums together with the IAIS, the Microinsurance Network and other partners:  (1) “How to encourage the insurance industry in Africa to provide sustainable insurance services to the unserved” In Tunis, Tunisia, (2.) “Consumer Education: Old questions, new thinking” in Casablanca, Morocco
   
• We organised an  Inclusive Insurance Training Program for Supervisors in Latin America with IAIS, Toronto Centre, ASSAL, SBS, IADB in Lima, Peru
   
• We collaborated with the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) to convert the IAIS-A2ii Training Module on Regulation and Supervision Supporting Inclusive Insurance Markets into FSI Connect Format and launch it as an e-learning platform
   
• We contributed to the development of new IAIS supervisory material on:
  • Conduct of Business in Inclusive Insurance
  • Mutual, Cooperatives and Community-Based Organisations,
  • Index Based Insurance, and
  • Microtakaful insurance
     
• We disseminated our knowledge and informed supervisors and partners by issuing 6 Newsletters and 2 newsflashes. Click here to access A2ii Newsletter archive.

If you are interested in learning more about inclusive insurance and how the A2ii worked with the IAIS in supporting implementation of the ICPs and supervisory capacity building please find here our annual report for the reporting period October 2014 to September 2015.

We wish all readers a restive and festive end-of-year and we look forward to working with many of you again in 2016!

Recent events

A2ii-MIN-IAIS Consultative Forum: Consumer Education: Old questions, new thinking
|3 November 2015| Casablanca, Morocco

The 5th Consultative Forum on “Consumer Education: Old questions, new thinking” took place alongside the 11th International Microinsurance Conference. The Forum brought together over 70 representatives of the insurance industry, insurance supervisory and other public authorities from 23 countries.

Key note speeches were given by Peter Braumüller, Financial Markets Authority Austria and Othman El Alamy, Ministry of Finance and Economy in Morocco. In addition, representatives from the Philippines and South African supervisory authorities as well as industry, discussed different partnership models and delivery channels for financial consumer education. While many consumer education pilots have been discontinued, some promising approaches were identified, including radio spots, providing “insurance for free” (so consumers learn through using the product) and the nomination of “community-based advocates”. Also, multi-stakeholder public-private partnerships were highlighted as the most effective and efficient way to organise national efforts.

Please click here to download the full press release.

AIO Life Insurance Seminar 
|25 - 27 November| Lomé, Togo

The A2ii participated in two panels at this regional West African conference on the topics of (1) financial literacy building of the population and consumer protection and (2) regulatory changes and perspectives for positive growth.  

During the panel on financial literacy building discussion focused on the role of compulsory insurances in educating new consumers to the benefits of insurance. On the regulatory panel representatives from CIMA and Insurance Regulatory Authority from Kenya informed participants about the state of regulation in their jurisdictions and planned changes. The A2ii provided a global perspective on the topic speaking about the IAISs insurance core principles and the need for a proportionate approach to their implementation to support and enhance financial inclusion.

The Seminar was attended by 121, mainly industry, delegates from 24 different countries with the majority coming from Togo, Nigeria and Ghana.

IAIS Committee Meetings
|9 – 13 November| Marrakesh, Morocco  

The A2ii participated in the meetings of the Financial Inclusion Working Group, Supervisory Development Working Group and Implementation Committee held in Marrakesh alongside the IAIS annual conference. The A2ii reported on its recent activities as well as highlighted those upcoming. In addition, the draft A2ii workplan for 2016 was discussed with IAIS members.

The A2ii also participated and presented in regional supervisory breakouts of the Sub-Saharan African, Central European, Transcaucasian, Latin American and Asian regions.

IAIS-A2ii Consultation Call on “Supervisory Responses to Consumer Risks in Mobile Insurance”
|26 November 2015|

The 13th IAIS-A2ii consultation call was organised in response to requests from supervisors for more support on the topic of digital financial inclusion.

Over the course of three calls – two in English and one in Spanish - 35 supervisors from 19 countries shared their experiences and challenges in supervising mobile insurance. The National Insurance Commission from Ghana (NIC) presented the results of a study on the consumer protection risks of mobile insurance in Ghana which it had developed with support from GIZ Ghana. On the Spanish call the Comisión Nacional de Seguros y Finanzas from Mexico informed participants about their recently adopted regulation on electronic contracting for financial services.

Discussions evolved around the following questions:

• How do insurance supervisors deal with abuses in the distribution channels (mobile insurance)?
• What measures might supervisors need to take to protect consumers’ rights?
• How can supervisors control the potential risk arising from involvement of a third party in the value chain?
• How can supervisors ensure consumers receive relevant information on the contract when it comes to mobile insurance?

Click here to download the presentations of the 13th Consultation Call in English and Spanish. A full report summarising discussions of all 3 calls will follow soon.

The postponed French call will take place on 10 December. Please register here.

New Governing Council members for the A2ii

The A2ii is happy to welcome two new A2ii Governing Council members: Gita Timmerman from National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), US and Sekayi Campbell from Financial Services Commission (FSC), Jamaica.

IAIS-A2ii Consultation Call
|21 January 2016|

The next Consultation Call will take place on 21 January.
We are happy to hear your ideas and suggestions on a topic, please submit them at this link.

If you are not currently on our mailing list and would like to receive an invitation please send an email to: consultation.call[at]a2ii.org.

We are very happy to welcome Anke Green to our team. Anke will be responsible for A2iis training contacts and events as well as A2ii-IAIS regional implementation activities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Before joining the A2ii, Anke worked as a consultant for GIZ on social protection and youth employment issues. From 2005 – 2014, Anke was a staff member of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) where she worked in the Division for Social Policy and Development. Prior to that, she was a consultant to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), working on microfinance issues and small business development. Anke holds a Masters in International Economic Studies from Maastricht University and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. 

Now available in French and Spanish: Report of the 11th IAIS-A2ii Consultation Call on “Risk-based supervision in inclusive insurance” which took place on 23 July.

Compte-rendu de la 11e Consultation téléphonique A2ii – AICA : « Le contrôle fondé sur le risque dans l’assurance inclusive »

Informe de la 11a Llamada de Consulta de la A2ii – IAIS: “Supervisión basada en riesgos en seguros inclusivo”