European insurance watchdog picks Portuguese head
FRANKFURT, Oct 30 (Reuters) - European insurance supervisors have elected Portuguese regulator Gabriel Bernardino to lead them in a major transformation as new industry capital rules are put in place.
Bernardino replaces Thomas Steffen of German watchdog Bafin as chairman of the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS), CEIOPS said in a statement on Friday.
CEIOPS, set to become a powerful EU insurance authority, is meeting in Berlin to discuss stress testing for Europe's 30 biggest insurers as well as new risk capital rules for insurers known as Solvency II. [ID:nLS384200]
A draft law creating a new European insurance authority with powers to adopt rules which are binding on member states is now before EU governments and the European Parliament for adoption. The aim is to set up the new body sometime in 2010.
Bernardino, who holds degrees in mathematics and statistics from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, became director general of Portuguese insurance and pensions regulator ISP in 2007 after serving in various supervisory positions for nearly 20 years. CEIOPS is requiring Europe's big insurers such as Allianz (ALVG.DE), AXA (AXAF.PA) and Generali (GASI.MI) as well as reinsurance players like Munich Re (MUVGn.DE) and Hannover Re (HNRGn.DE) to test their ability to withstand recession, inflation and other shocks. Results of the tests will be fully evaluated by the end of March, 2010. (Reporting by Jonathan Gould)
