Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has signed onto the information sharing agreement among global insurance regulators, which aims to improve supervision and enhance consumer protection.
The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) announced Monday that the insurance regulators in both Quebec and Malaysia have joined its supervisory cooperation and information exchange agreement, known as the IAIS Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU). The agreement provides a framework for cooperation and information exchange among insurance regulators, which allows them to share information to facilitate the supervision of cross-border activities, to bolster consumer protection, and enhance financial stability.
The MMoU sets minimum standards that signatories to the arrangement must adhere to; and, regulators that are seeking to sign on to it are subject to review and approval by an independent team of IAIS members. With the addition of the AMF and Malaysian authorities, the MMoU now includes 50 signatories, which represent more than 63% of worldwide premium volume, the IAIS reports.
The only other Canadian signatory at this point, the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), signed on in July 2012.
“We are pleased to be a signatory to this MMoU, a key tool for regulators seeking to ensure more effective monitoring and supervision of insurers with cross-border business activities,” said Louis Morisset, president and CEO of the AMF. “This is especially important to us, as an integrated regulator, since it allows us to work more closely with insurance peers around the world as part of the collaborative network we’ve built with regulators in the other sectors we oversee.”
“We are delighted to welcome Malaysia and Quebec as signatories to the MMoU and to see the MMoU hit a milestone of 50 signatories,” said Felix Hufeld, chair of the executive committee of the IAIS.
“In order to achieve our ultimate goal of policyholder protection within the global insurance marketplace, an insurance supervisor needs the ability to cooperate quickly and effectively. The MMoU has proven to be an essential regulatory tool – not only in crisis situations, but on a day-to-day basis – for supervisors engaged in cross-border cooperation to foster safer and more stable insurance markets, and the IAIS encourages each of its Members to become a MMoU signatory,” he added.