Financial Insurance News

This report reviews the key features and public policy issues regarding the property & casualty insurance industry in Canada. It begins with an overview of the business and structure of the industry: the nature and composition of the property and casualty business, the industry in the context of the Canadian financial services sector, financial structure, and regulation of the industry. It then discusses the following issues: the financial capacity of the industry to handle claims resulting from a major earthquake; the likelihood of major industry consolidation; potential changes in the industry's distribution system in the near future; and the impact of technology in general.

Pt. 1. The economics of insurance and the macroeconomic role of insurance -- What is insurance and how does it differ from general finance? / Christian Thimann -- The macroeconomic role of insurance / Denis Kessler, Amélie de Montchalin, and Christian Thimann -- How the insurance industry manages risk / Denis Duverne and John Hele -- pt. 2. Financial stability and the possibilities of systemic risk -- Risks of life insurers : recent trends and transmission mechanisms / Ralph S.J. Koijen and Motohiro Yogo -- Measuring systemic risk for insurance companies / Viral V. Acharya, Thomas Philippon, and Matthew Richardson -- Measuring interest rate risk in the life insurance sector : the U.S. and the U.K. / Daniel Hartley, Anna Paulson and Richard J. Rosen -- pt. 3. Regulation -- How the insurance industry's asset portfolio responds to regulation / Bo Becker -- Spillover effects of risk regulation on the asset side to asset markets / Andrew Ellul, Chotibhak Jotikasthira, and Christian T. Lundblad -- A regulatory framework for systemic risk in the insurance industry / Felix Hufeld -- pt. 4. Open questions going forward from the insurance sector -- The big questions for the insurance sector : findings from a survey of insurance companies / Luca Pancaldi and Uwe Stegemann