(Bloomberg News) Insurance-industry groups representing companies in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America joined to form a worldwide organization as regulators expand oversight.
The Global Federation of Insurance Associations will take positions on issues including the designation of firms that present risk to the world's financial system and the development of a common framework, called ComFrame, for supervising insurers operating internationally, said Frank Swedlove, who was named chairman of the new group today.
The group will "ensure that the industry speaks with one voice," Swedlove said in an interview. "There are a lot of organizations now that set standards at international levels, and we in the insurance industry believe that we need to have an effective representation at that level."
Swedlove is president of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and has worked for that group since 2007. He is a past president of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, which fights money laundering and terrorist financing, and led the Committee on Trade in Financial Services of the World Trade Organization.