23-24 September 2010, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

Co-hosted by the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the OECD, this seminar focused how to improve the monitoring of insurance markets through the provision of sound insurance statistics and indicators. Participants shared their experiences with a view to improving the relevance, quality, and timeliness of insurance statistics, regionally and globally.

Discussion topics included:

• How to enhance transparency and monitoring of the insurance industry in the post-crisis context as a means to assist policymakers and supervisors (especially in Asian and South East Asian countries) in assessing the financial strength and performance of the insurance industry;
• Country experiences in insurance market monitoring, research and statistics gathering (including indicators used), existing data gaps, and where further efforts might be required;
• Presentation of the preliminary results of a stock-taking of existing sources of statistical data internationally and main challenges; and,
• The way forward to improve the monitoring of insurance market developments from an international perspective, including through improved data quality and comparability.

The seminar brought together supervisory authorities, practitioners, statistical experts and insurance analysts, particularly from the Asian region, Speakers included prominent representatives of supervisory authorities, central banks, experts and researchers in the area of insurance monitoring and statistics.

 

Documentation

Agenda

Summary record

Speaker biographies

Room document - Room Document no 1 - Mr. Jean-Marc Salou, Jean-Marc Salou

Room document - Room Document no 2 - Mr. W. Jean Kwon, W. Jean Kwon

 

Speaker presentations

Day 1 Thursday 23 September 2010

Session I. Enhancing transparency and monitoring of the insurance industry in the post-crisis context and the way forward 

Moderator: Mr. Jean-Marc Salou, Administrator, Pension and Insurance Statistics, OECD
• Overview of insurance in Asia
Mr. Sivam Subramaniam, Editor-in-Chief, Asia Insurance Review & Middle East Insurance Review
• Ensuring insurance statistics contribute to a more prudent, competitive and efficient insurance sector
Mr. Steve Davies, Head of Statistics, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
• Insurance statistics for monetary policy
Mr. José Maria Cartas, Senior Economist, IMF

Report Form 4SR Financial Corporations  [to receive the excel file, please contact the Secretariat]
• Contribution of insurance statistics to market transparency and recent developments in the OECD insurance statistics framework
Mr. Timothy Bishop, Senior Expert in Finance and Insurance, OECD

 

This session highlighted the importance of insurance statistics for fact-based public policymaking, industry monitoring, insurance sector supervision and business purposes within the private sector.

 

Session II. Insurance data sources and data needs

Moderator: Mr. Steve Davies, Head of Statistics, APRA
• OECD Global Insurance Statistics’ exercise and overview of other existing exercises
Mr. Jean-Marc Salou, Administrator, Pension and Insurance Statistics, OECD
• Impact of the new EU supervisory architecture and Solvency II on data needs
Ms. Sandra Desson, Administrator, CEIOPS Secretariat
• Insurance data sources and data needs: Private-sector perspectives
Mr. Raymond Yeung, Deputy Head Economic Research, Swiss Re
• Ms. Lai Kuen Yap, Director of Insurance & Takaful Supervision, Bank Negara Malaysia
• Mr. Danny Yap, Head of Business Intelligence, ISM Insurance Services Malaysia

This session sought to examine data sources and the needs of various groups of users, notably supervisory agencies, the private sector and academia.  It examined challenges and requirements for timely insurance data and drew on a preliminary review and evaluation of main existing data sources.

 

Session III. Selected country experiences with respect to data collection and monitoring of the insurance industry

Moderator: Ms. Sandra Desson, Administrator, CEIOPS Secretariat

• Hong Kong:  Ms. Kitty Chan, Administrative Officer, Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau jointly with Ms. Peggy Fu, Insurance Officer and Mr. Steven Ho, Assistant Insurance Officer, Hong Kong Government, Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
• Indonesia:  Mr. Isa Rachmatarwata, Head of Insurance Bureau, Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (BAPEPAM-LK), Ministry of Finance, Indonesia
• Japan:  Mr. Jumpei Miwa, Deputy Director, Insurance Business Division, Supervisory Bureau, Financial Services Agency, Japan
• Malaysia:  Mr. Hock Chai Toh, Director of Statistical Services Department, Bank Negara Malaysia
• Vietnam:  Mr. Thanh Tu Tran, Deputy Director, Insurance Research and Training Center, Insurance Supervisory Authority, Vietnam

 

This session was an occasion for selected authorities in the region to present their national insurance statistics framework and discuss surveillance efforts. During this session, representatives of organisations in charge of collecting and disseminating insurance statistics had the opportunity to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of their statistical programmes and on issues pertaining to practical data limitations. This session provided an occasion to discuss possible ways to tackle these limitations.

 

Session IV. Challenges and issues in insurance statistics and insurance sector monitoring

Moderator: Mr. Timothy Bishop, Senior Expert in Finance and Insurance, OECD

• Implications of exposure draft insurance contracts (issued by the IASB on 30 July 2010)
Mr. Jeremy Hoon, Insurance Partner, KPMG Singapore
• Impact of accounting standards on insurance statistics
Mr. José Pavão Nunes, Head of Statistics, Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority, Portugal
• Improving infrastructure and systems for a robust insurance statistical collection
Mr. Carlo Schmitz, Statistical Researcher, Statistics Netherlands
• The growing importance of Takaful insurance
Mr. Ajmal Bhatty, CEO, Tokio Marine Middle East, United Arab Emirates

This session was dedicated to selected issues in insurance statistics and monitoring, of which impact of accounting standards and Takaful insurance.

 

Day 2 Friday 24 September 2010

Session V. Comparative review of insurance statistics in the region and selected country perspectives

Moderator: Mr. Sivam Subramaniam, Editor-in-Chief, Asia Insurance Review & Middle East Insurance Review

• Preliminary Review of Insurance Statistics Sources in selected Asian countries
Mr. W. Jean Kwon, Faculty Chair, The School of Risk Management, St. John’s University, United States
• OECD Global Insurance Statistics’ framework: results from the data collection pilot exercise for selected Asian countries and the way forward
Mr. Jean-Marc Salou, Administrator, Pension and Insurance Statistics, OECD

Based on a stocktaking exercise conducted by the OECD, this session provided preliminary elements to assess availability of existing, publicly disseminated insurance data in the region.

 

Session VI. Wrap-up session

Moderator: Mr. José Pavão Nunes, Chair of the OECD Task Force on Insurance Statistics

In this session, elements for possible follow-up actions were introduced for feedback and discussion.

 

Contact

Any questions should be addressed to:

Mr. Jean-Marc Salou, OECD, jean-marc.salou@oecd.org, Tel: + 33 (0)1 45 24 91 10.