Published: 14. November 2022.
President of the Board of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) Ante Žigman has been elected for the third time as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), as the representative of the CEET region (Central and Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia). He was elected to this position for the first time in 2018, and re-elected in 2020, and this is his third consecutive term of office in this international position.
During October, CEET region members re-elected Žigman as their representative in the IAIS Executive Committee for a two-year term of office, while his re-election was confirmed at IAIS Annual Assembly held in Chile. The IAIS mission is to promote effective and globally consistent supervision of the insurance industry in order to develop and maintain fair, safe and stable insurance markets for the benefit and protection of policyholders and to contribute to global financial stability. Ante Žigman’s role will be to present the CEET region in the IAIS Executive Committee and to coordinate the work of its members for the purpose of encouraging further development of the insurance market in the region within the policies promoted by the IAIS.
“I perceive this re-election to the IAIS Executive Committee and the trust that Hanfa gained as the host to the IAIS Global Seminar held in June in Dubrovnik as important recognition of Hanfa’s work up until now, but also as the recognition conferred on Croatia. As the representative of the CEET region, I will keep supporting the principle of proportionality, in particular as regards the supervisory practice and standards to be met by insurance market participants. I will also continue encouraging further improvements of standards relating to consumer protection, having in mind financial inclusion and financial literacy as priorities in this area,” Mr Žigman said, adding that “along with the impact of the pandemic and macroeconomic developments, growing challenges faced by all regulators today are new technologies, cyber risks and effects of climate change, which makes cooperation with other regulators through the IAIS in creating international policies for these areas extremely important.”
In Žigman’s opinion, it is therefore crucial to define goals and challenges specific and common to the CEET region in accordance with the IAIS strategic objectives for the upcoming period, and to foster stronger engagement and closer cooperation in the insurance area among its members. “This will help us respond to the challenges specific to our region in a more effective manner, and contribute to market development at the same time. I will also encourage closer cooperation and communication with EIOPA and other IAIS members, as I believe that inter-regulatory cooperation and cross-sectoral knowledge and experience sharing may significantly improve future regional policies and insurance sector supervision,” concluded Mr Žigman.
The IAIS is a voluntary membership organisation of insurance supervisors and regulators from more than 200 jurisdictions, covering 97% of the global insurance premiums. It was established in 1994 for the purpose of setting standards for the development of the insurance sector supervision at the global level. As regards Hanfa’s participation in the IAIS activities, it should be highlighted that, along with his membership of the IAIS Executive Committee, President of the Board of Hanfa Ante Žigman is also a member of its Macroprudential Committee and Selection Committee, while Ilijana Jeleč, a member of Hanfa’s Board, is a member of its Audit and Risk Committee. Hanfa also participates in the work of the IAIS Fintech Forum and Macroprudential Supervision Working Group.
In addition to supervising other non-banking financial institutions, Hanfa, as the market regulator, supervises the Croatian insurance market, which includes 15 insurance companies, 4 branches of insurance companies from EU Member States, more than 11,000 legal and natural persons – insurance intermediaries and more than 2,000 insurance distributors from EU Member States. It also supervises the work of the Croatian Insurance Bureau.
This news item was originally published by the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA HR). For more information, see the Source Link.
