Steinberg, Louise --- "International Organisations: Their Role and Interconnectivity in Insurance Regulation" [2012] ELECD 166; in Burling, Julian; Lazarus, Kevin (eds), "Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation

Editor(s): Burling, Julian; Lazarus, Kevin

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849807883

Section: Chapter 12

Section Title: International Organisations: Their Role and Interconnectivity in Insurance Regulation

Author(s): Steinberg, Louise

Number of pages: 32

Extract:

12 International organisations: their role and
interconnectivity in insurance regulation
Louise Steinberg1



1. INTRODUCTION

Insurance regulation comprises rules and principles that apply to solvency (prudential)
regulation, conduct of business and (albeit with less homogeneity) the insurance products
themselves. Organisations and groups that shape the regulatory framework within which
insurance and the wider financial services industry operate take many legal forms and
sizes. In the absence of a single international body able to set and enforce agreed rules that
apply to the international financial system, global governance of the financial sector is
achieved consensually by the collaboration of various bodies that share responsibility for
financial stability. The United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund (`the IMF'), the World Trade Organization (`the WTO'), the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (`the OECD') and the European Union (`the
EU') are key centres of influence.
Alongside the international organisations, other bodies are equally powerful. Govern-
ment groupings (significantly the G7 and G20 and the bodies that they have created, such
as the Financial Stability Board) shape the regulatory agenda. As a consequence of the
standard-setting responsibilities that they have assumed, also influential are a handful of
private organisations, among them the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (`the
Basel Committee') and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (`IAIS').2
The international rule-making agenda is largely set by the interplay of these organisa-
tions and groups. A testament to their influence is the striking homogeneity in the
regulations that apply to ...