Section one of the paper provides a broad overview of the nature and objectives of the projects. Section two contains an objective view of the impact of FIRST funded projects on the growth in insurance markets as measured by insurance market penetration.
... See More + Rigorous data analysis was used to isolate exogenous factors other than the project intervention that may have led to a change in the insurance premiums as a percentage of GDP. The paper showcases in section three, the dynamic view and multipronged approaches to the insurance market development by highlighting country case studies, with different primary objectives, towards the overall goal of the insurance market development. The case studies also consider the specific insurance market interventions that can stimulate wider financial sector development objectives. Applying the drivers and stages discussion as an analytical framework, section four takes stock of numerous interventions of the FIRST projects implemented by the World Bank and extracts some key lessons learned that could be used as a guide to inform the design of future intervention, and by policy makers in pursuit of insurance market development. Finally, section five provides some overarching conclusions and takeaways.
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Report 144661 DEC 26, 2019
Wrede,Peter Friedrich Wilhelm; Stewart,Fiona Elizabeth; Rawlins,Marlon Rolston; Shindo,TetsutaroDisclosed
The insurance industry in Albania is relatively new. Prior to 1991, there were no insurance companies operating in the country. The insurance industry has been undergoing critical changes during the last decade.
... See More + The life market in Albania is small, and still dominated by credit life insurance. Life insurance was introduced only in 1997 and made up about seven percent of gross written premiums. Risk based supervision was rolled out in 2016, starting with comprehensive on-site inspections in three non-life insurance companies using the risk-focused methodology. The RBS method led to a market database that helps evaluate the risk profile of each insurance company, as well as the risk level of the insurance market as a whole. The country’s good economic development in the last two decades has contributed to the insurance market’s development, but so have good policy choices informed by technical assistance projects and other interventions by the World Bank Group and the FIRST trust fund. Without aspiring to the impossible task of attributing causal relationships between these interventions and specific market developments, this report will nonetheless suggest what role these interventions may have played in developing Albania’s insurance market, so as to guide the way forward in this country and future developmental strategies of other countries.
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The objective of the Strengthening The Regulatory And Institutional Framework For Ms will be to enhance financial services and products and to strengthen financial protection mechanism for MSMEs, while enhancing governance.
... See More + There is a need to extend the closing date of the Project from its current closing date of August 31, 2018 to December 30, 2019. The objectives have been nearly fully met, the extension will provide the PMU adequate time to achieve the final objective of women's inclusion, and provide further support to strengthen implementation through additional institutional development and TA to deepen reforms initiated since the project’s inception especially following the decision to move Insurance under CBJ’s supervision. The project will provide TA to develop and implement a robust insurance supervisory through establishing insurance supervision department at CBJ, developing new Insurance law and regulations and establishing and transferring and upgrading IT systems related to the Insurance Supervision Department.
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The Chinese insurance sector is experiencing rapid growth, posing particular challenges to effective supervision. The sector has been growing by over 20 percent a year and there are ambitious government targets for further development.
... See More + Many individual, often newer, companies are growing at rates far in excess of the average. New entrants, products and distribution channels, combined with the liberalization of pricing, have increased competition. At the same time, slower economic growth and reduced investment returns are exposing many established life insurers to the risk of loss due to the rising value of their liabilities. Many non-life companies are moving into new lines of business as margins in established lines erode. While their customers continue to benefit from a dynamic market, there are risks to insurance companies’ business models, performance and to solvency as well as risks of misconduct in the treatment of insurance customers. There are particular challenges for insurance supervisors to remain abreast of developing risks, while continuing to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory system for the longer term. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has been undertaking far-reaching reforms and modernization since the 2011 FSAP. It has focused its work on improving corporate governance, enforcing sound market conduct and reshaping the solvency standards into a modern, risk-based approach. The China-Risk Oriented Solvency Standards (C-ROSS) draw on international practices and experience in the Chinese market to define solvency requirements that generally reflect risk as well as rewarding sound risk management. By linking the framework to an in-depth assessment of risk management, C-ROSS has also equipped CIRC with a strengthened overall supervisory framework for solvency risk. As a result, CIRC has felt confident to relax or remove less risk-based requirements such as new product (and reinsurance contract) approval as well as detailed limits on insurers’ investments. In parallel with regulatory changes, it has been working to reform and develop the insurance market, liberalizing pricing controls and accommodating the development of new products, although restrictions remain on the access of foreign insurers, especially in life insurance.
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The Chinese insurance sector is experiencing rapid growth, posing particular challenges to effective supervision. The sector has been growing by over 20 percent a year and there are ambitious government targets for further development.
... See More + Many individual, often newer, companies are growing at rates far in excess of the average. New entrants, products and distribution channels, combined with the liberalization of pricing, have increased competition. At the same time, slower economic growth and reduced investment returns are exposing many established life insurers to the risk of loss due to the rising value of their liabilities. Many non-life companies are moving into new lines of business as margins in established lines erode. While their customers continue to benefit from a dynamic market, there are risks to insurance companies’ business models, performance and to solvency as well as risks of misconduct in the treatment of insurance customers. There are challenges for insurance supervisors to remain abreast of developing risks, while continuing to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory system for the longer term. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has been undertaking far-reaching reforms and modernization since the 2011 FSAP. It has focused its work on improving corporate governance, enforcing sound market conduct and reshaping the solvency standards into a modern, risk-based approach. The China-Risk Oriented Solvency Standards (C-ROSS) draw on international practices and experience in the Chinese market to define solvency requirements that generally reflect risk as well as rewarding sound risk management. By linking the framework to an in-depth assessment of risk management, C-ROSS has also equipped CIRC with a strengthened overall supervisory framework for solvency risk. Thus, CIRC has felt confident to relax or remove less risk-based requirements such as new product (and reinsurance contract) approval as well as detailed limits on insurers’ investments. In parallel with regulatory changes, it has been working to reform and develop the insurance market, liberalizing pricing controls and accommodating the development of new products, although restrictions remain on the access of foreign insurers, especially in life insurance.
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The objective of the Catastrophe Risk Insurance Project for Honduras and Nicaragua is to enable the access of Honduras and Nicaragua to efficient sovereign risk insurance associated with tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and/or excess rainfall.
... See More + This restructuring paper seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to adjust the Project Development Objective (PDO) of the Honduras and Nicaragua Catastrophe Risk Insurance Project. The withdrawal of the credit offers to the Republic of Honduras as of January 18, 2017 requires an adjustment of the PDO, effectively removing Honduras from the PDO. The restructuring will also take into consideration the availability of new sovereign risk insurance products for both geophysical and climate‐related events and adjust the PDO accordingly. The restructuring will also result in a number of other changes in the project. These include: (i) change of the project name; (ii) update of the financing plan to reflect the withdrawal of credit No. 55300‐HN; (iii) extension of the closing date of credit No. 55310‐NI from June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2021; (iv) revision of the project’s description, including changes in components and costs to reflect that the project will only provide financing for Nicaragua; (v) reallocation of funds and change in the percentage of expenditures to enable the project to finance 50 percent of the payment for insurance premiums in years five and six of project implementation; (vi) update of disbursement estimates; (vii) removal of the Ministry of Finance of Honduras as an implementing agency; (viii) revision of the results framework to remove any references to Honduras and change the end target date of PDO and intermediate indicators; (xi) reassessment of the project’s risk considering only the context of Nicaragua; and (x) revision of the integrated safeguards data sheet to remove references to Honduras and include the revised PDO and project description.
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