News

The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (Joint Committee) held its first Consumer Protection Day on 25 June 2013 in Paris.

Consumer protection is a major objective for the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs – EBA, ESMA, EIOPA) and under the auspices of the Joint Committee, they continue to place this high on their agenda for 2013.

The aim of the event was to provide a forum for exchange and discussion on important and current cross-sectoral consumer issues.

With this Opinion in the field of consumer protection, EIOPA recommends national competent authorities (NCAs) to analyse their national Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) markets based on the findings of this opinion. PPI is an insurance product designed to provide coverage for the consumer of a financial obligation generally in the form of a mortgage or a consumer loan repayment, in case they are unable to fulfil a payment. The consumer protection issues surrounding PPI have triggered action from regulatory or supervisory bodies in a number of jurisdictions.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a public consultation on two Good Practices Reports on comparison websites and knowledge & ability of distributors of insurance products.

The Science Gallery in Dublin has been transformed into a virtual casino for its latest show, Risk Lab. Visitors can expect to learn more about their perception of risk and the psychology and maths behind games such as roulette and poker. The goal is to help give people a deeper understanding of risk-taking in every aspect of their lives.

The exhibition opened on the  2nd May, and the free show is set to run until 23rd June at the Science Gallery on Pearse Street.

The April 2013 issue of the IAA Newsletter is now available here https://web.actuaries.ie/press/iaa.

It features the following sections;

The April 2013 issue of the SAI Newsletter is the first of the new year and is in a slightly different format than previous issues.  Rather than filling the newsletter with long reviews of evening meetings, the newsletter team is experimenting with having much shorter summaries. 

This approach means that we will need to draw on other content for the newsletter.  The newsletter team would appreciate receiving submissions and ideas from members for future editions. 

The European Commission has adopted a Green Paper that launches a three-month public consultation on how to foster the supply of long-term financing and how to improve and diversify the system of financial intermediation for long-term investment in Europe.

Full details are available here.

The requirements you need to fulfil for the CERA qualification changed from September 2012.

For those taking the ST9 exam after 1 September 2012, you also need to attend a seminar in order to receive the qualification.

More information is available here

There are going to be some important changes for the April 2013 exams.

These include:

• The launch of electronic exam entry permits;
• A new style exam paper and answer booklet;
• The need to write in black ballpoint ink only and
• Scanning of exam answer booklets for marking purposes.

Please make sure you read this important information so as to be aware of the changes and to ensure that your script can be marked.

Since 2010, the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has been permitted to award the Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA) qualification to those of its Associates and Fellows who have passed  its ST9 Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Specialist Technical examination (and, from September 2012, have also attended a one day seminar).

The Groupe Consultatif Actuariel Européen has published a paper titled “Comparison of the Regulatory Approach in Insurance and Banking in the Context of Solvency II”.  The principal author is Mairead O’Shea, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. 

“Executive Summary

The International Actuarial Association (IAA) approved its first International Standard of Actuarial Practice, ISAP 1, on General Actuarial Practice, at its Council meeting in November 2012.  An ISAP is a model standard which the IAA encourages actuarial standard-setting bodies to consider.   

Description