Analysis: Review of the Year 2019

Given the fluid and fast-paced nature of Brexit, this thesis incorporates the most recent and relevant political and legislative updates on both sides of the Channel and examines the future of UK-EU trade in financial services through the prism of the EU’s third-country equivalence regime on the one hand, and the 2014 Ukraine-EU Association Agreement on the other hand. Chapters 1 lays out the approach and methodology as well as the overarching assumptions used in created an analytical baseline; namely that the UK will negotiate on the basis of Prime Minister Theresa May’s ‘red lines’ on the customs union, internal market membership and CJEU oversight and that the UK’s withdrawal will thus take the form of a ‘hard’ Brexit. Chapter 2 begins by tracing the historical and political evolution of Anglo-European relations and then placing this evolution within the context of the 2016 Referendum. The chapter concludes by outlining the most recent developments in both the EU and the UK’s negotiating positions. Chapter 3.1 pays specific attention to the harmonisation of financial regulation at the European level before, during and after the 2008 financial crisis. The analysis therein posits the recent financial crisis as a turning point in the EU’s regulatory framework. Chapter 3.2 then discusses the UK’s position within the EU financial services sector in order to set the stage for the ensuing discussion on the future modalities for trade in financial services. Chapter 4 analyses the EU’s current framework for third-country equivalence relevant to four sub-sectors of the financial services industry: (1) market infrastructure, (2) investment firms and investment services, (3) asset management and (4) insurance and reinsurance. The chapter concludes with a discussion and analysis of the pitfalls of the EU’s current equivalence regime as applicable to the UK financial services industry and the possibility of Brexit serving as a catalyst for a rejigged ‘enhanced equivalence’ regime. Chapter 5 analyses the second modality for future trade (for the purposes of this comparison): an association agreement under Article 217 TFEU. The Ukraine-EU Association Agreement is specifically utilised as a framework given its depth vis-à-vis the EU’s other association agreements and the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the EU and Ukraine. After discussing the Agreement’s specific provisions on liberalisation with respect to financial services, the chapter concludes by assessing the framework of the Ukraine agreement’s viability as a future model for the United Kingdom. Chapter 6 concludes with a restatement of the issues vis-à-vis the current equivalence regime and the regulatory approximation requirements within the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. Finally, the conclusion juxtaposes the UK’s scope for regulatory arbitrage and the trade-offs between any de jure regulatory autonomy the UK may have post-Brexit against the de jure and de facto harmonisation that will likely entail any market access agreement between the EU and the UK.

2016

A few months ago, we produced a timetable for the implementation of U.S. financial reform under the Dodd-Frank Act.1 One of the main observations was that the legislation did little to consolidate regulation outside of banking. In contrast, the analogous UK reform legislation, the Financial Services Act, made the Bank of England (BoE) the center of UK financial and monetary stability. A 2016 amendment confirmed and strengthened the bank’s role. However, a significant number of UK financial rules are based on European Union regulations, and currently, as a member of the single market, the UK is subject to them. That membership also has given Britain a voice in EU rule making through representation in both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The UK implements EU rules either by transposing EU directives into British law or by directly enforcing EU regulations. These differences are important, especially as Britain and the EU prepare for the approaching Brexit: To maintain the current regulatory framework, the UK will have to transpose all the EU regulations into its national law. This is even more important now with the EU’s increased usage of regulations as the final stage of the Basel III accord’s implementation approaches. Furthermore, the EU’s regulatory framework itself is a work in progress, with key deadlines in 2018 and 2019. Forsaking EU membership will limit the UK’s ability to influence this process, although it may be obligated to follow the rules that result, because they are mostly driven by international regulatory efforts that include non-EU countries such as the U.S. Before assessing these challenges, this paper establishes a timeline summarizing the status of financial regulatory reform in the UK. It then identifies some of the forthcoming difficulties, including Brexit and the recent evolution of macroprudential policies among developed countries

2019

The mobile microinsurance marketing plan boasts itself as it highlights the overview of the mobile microinsurance industry, its current market condition, its external and internal factors driving and affecting its growth, its competition arena, and its key players through the lenses of different stakeholders. The paper describes the current marketing situation of the mobile microinsurance industry as it gives a thorough narrative on the market trends of the said industry both in the perspective of the local and international arena. It gives a bird’s eye view of the current battlefield of the said industry by illustrating the interconnection of various players and its roles in the industry. Moreover, the paper prides itself in showing the target market’s behavior which can be later used in formulating strategies for capturing the target market. The paper also emphasizes various macro and micro environmental forces that can greatly affect the mobile microinsurance industry. As such, pertinent examples are also illustrated in order to prove that such factors should not be overlooked in order to maximize the benefits it may enjoy on successful mobile microinsurance product launch. After discussing the foregoing concepts, the paper moves on to propose appropriate and winning marketing strategies based on grounded principles and proven success stories in other countries with similar situations and challenges faced by the existing regulatory environment of the Philippines. The proposed marketing strategy also identifies clear marketing and financial objectives so as to position the mobile microinsurance product well that can attract customers. It also seeks to have the firm cross the technology chasm in the shortest possible period while maximizing and enjoying the benefits of such strategies. Furthermore, the proponents recommended various marketing mixes that clearly define the advertising and branding strategies that are founded on marketing principles across the diffusion curve. The proponents well understand the value of effective pricing strategies for mobile microinsurance aim for low-cost, high-volume business. As such, this paper gives suggestions for various pricing options that can cater the marginalized and low-income earners which are the target market of the mobile microinsurance industry. Moreover, the paper gives an in-depth market research that is sourced from consultations and interviews gathered from various relevant stakeholders from the regulatory sector, mobile microinsurance providers, down to its potential customers. An in-depth financial forecast of sales and revenue for the next 3 to 5 years is also included in this paper. It analyses the possible profit and losses of the firm and how marketing could affect these movements of the firm’s money. A marketing budget is proposed in this paper to allow insight on the different activities that will entail in the marketing plan, coupled with the equivalent costs for each activity. Finally, the aforementioned strategies, after taking into consideration various concepts and all reasonable risks, the paper gives detailed implementation measures and contingency measures should the plan fail to materialize. GCash Insure provides a way to protect every Filipino through affordable comprehensive insurance. It uses microinsurance to bridge the lower financial bracket to a better financial plan. In this paper, we propose an integration of GCash Insure to the GCash mobile application by creating a separate module for monitoring and control of the user’s policy. Through the module, users can avail a microinsurance policy, upgrade their current policies, pay for their policies, view and monitor their policies, add dependents, and inquire more about GCash Insure. Different technologies were advised to be included in the module to empower users with the best customer experience. This paper also includes the current pricing strategy and what needs to be enhanced and considered for the long run. Activities internal and external to the organization were also proposed to have a strong primary and secondary brand knowledge.

Aviation accidents have the potential to result in large property damages and losses of human life. This paper provides an overview of how the airline insurance industry works. We will take a look on how the risk is spread between insurers, how insurers treat deliberate acts of violence and, lastly, how insurers price the risk. Our paper shows that the way the aviation insurance market is structured reveals highly sophisticated risk management practices. To minimize their risk exposure, large potential liabilities are shared by means of a complicated system among several insurers. Furthermore, the paper shows that the insurance market has adjusted to the post 9-11 aviation insurance realities being reasonably ready to handle events of an even more catastrophic magnitude.

Academic Journal of Economic Studies, 2019

The financial industry is growing up rapidly, enabling large volumes of transactions to be carried out. This growth has significantly increased the demand for insurance and insurance products. Though prior studies have examined the factors that drive the performance of the insurance industry from life and non-life perspective, not much attention had been given to the contribution of insurance brokers who perform key roles in the insurance sector. This study examined the factors that determine the profitability of insurance brokers in a developing economy, Ghana. Panel data from 64 insurance brokerage firms were sampled over a period of 5 years (2011 to 2015). The study adopted a fixed effects and random effects estimation model using robust standard errors to check for biases. We found that monetary assets and firm size positively affects returns (ROA and ROE) whilst debt and fixed assets had a negative effect on returns. Comparing monetary assets and size, size contributed more to profitability. The study recommends that government, policymakers, and other stakeholders adopt competent growth and development strategies to ensure the sector is more resourced.

European Business Organization Law Review, 2002

Le Lab Adam, 2019

Marmara University, 2019

In this thesis, it was aimed to find a relationship between reinsurance cost which is the money paid by the insurance company to share the risk of insurance contract and financial and technical ratios which are good monitoring tools for insurance companies. This thesis was written in the hope of giving an idea about reinsurance. The relationship between reinsurance cost and financial and technical ratios was established and panel data regression was performed to obtain an empirical result. The data obtained from the official website of the IAT was used in this study. This data includes nine years of the total 27 non-life companies (2009 - 2017). Hypotheses have been tested to find the determinants of the reinsurance cost.

The Journal of Business, 1981

A vanguard of insurers is adapting its business model to the realities of climate change. In many ways, insurers are still catching up both to mainstream science and to their customers, which, in response to climate change and energy volatility, are increasingly changing the way they construct buildings, transport people and goods, design products and produce energy. Customers, as well as regulators and shareholders, are eager to see insurers provide more products and services that respond to the ''greening'' of the global economy, expand their efforts to improve disaster resilience and otherwise be proactive about the climate change threat. Insurers are increasingly recognising the issue as one of ''enterprise risk management'' (ERM), one cutting across the domains of underwriting, asset management and corporate governance. Their responses are becoming correspondingly sophisticated. Based on a review of more than 300 source documents, plus a direct survey of insurance companies, we have identified 643 specific activities from 244 insurance entities from 29 countries, representing a 50 per cent year-over-year increase in activity. These entities collectively represent $1.2 trillion in annual premiums and $13 trillion in assets, while employing 2.2 million people. In addition to activities on the part of 189 insurers, eight reinsurers, 20 intermediaries and 27 insurance organisations, we identified 34 non-insurance entities that have collaborated in these efforts. Challenges and opportunities include bringing promising products and services to scale, continuing to identify and fill market and coverage gaps and identifying and confirming the veracity of green improvements. There is also need for convergence between sustainability and disaster resilience, greater engagement by insurers in adaptation to unavoidable climate changes and to clarify the role that regulators will play in moving the market. It has not yet been demonstrated how some insurance lines might respond to climate change and a number of market segments have not yet been served with a single green insurance product or service. As insurer activities obtain more prominence, they also will be subject to more scrutiny and expectations that they are not simply greenwashing.

Competition and Consumer Law Journal, 2018

A ‘third wave’ of computing is emerging, based on the widespread embedding of processors with data handling and communications capabilities into everyday objects and environments, such as fridges, cars, fitness trackers and hairbrushes. This sociotechnical change brings with it the possibility of a disconnection between current consumer protection law and new marketing activities. The widespread digitisation of commerce has given firms an enhanced ability, not only to compile detailed customer profiles, but also to exploit consumers’ cognitive biases and individual vulnerabilities: a form of ‘digital consumer manipulation’. Opportunities for digital consumer manipulation will be increased by the widespread use of third wave technologies, enabling the availability of a greater amount of intimate and personalised data and creating additional personalised targeting opportunities. Why does this matter? Digital consumer manipulation can erode consumer autonomy, limit choice and competition, violate privacy, compromise personal dignity and subvert reasonable decision-making by consumers. This paper examines the key provisions of the Australian Consumer Law to establish its likely effectiveness in the face of digital consumer manipulation facilitated by the third wave.

Uberrima Fides is a legal doctrine that governs insurance contracts and expects all parties to the insurance agreement to act in good faith by declaring all material facts relative to a policy. The doctrine originated in England in 1766 with the case Carter v Boehm ruled by Lord Mansfield. Ever since, it has become, with some differences in interpretation, a cornerstone of insurance relationships around the world. The role that trust plays within it, however, is not simple and should not be taken for granted. While it is expected that an idea of trust represents an order of truth, trust in itself is the outcome of a complex negotiation of moral orders. Semiotically, trust operates here not as a Kantian category for the understanding but as a signifier of an order of truth that upholds the possibility for insurance relationships. Trust, as sign, operates as a condition of possibility for the performance of insurance. In this article, a Foucaultian approach is employed to problematise the idea of trust and its role in insurance relationships. The case of mis-selling of insurance policies in the United Kingdom since the 1980s, which has given rise to numerous legal rulings, is used as the empirical site for the problematisation.