Bermuda taps American insurance regulator for board
By Lilla Zuill
HAMILTON, Bermuda, June 30 (Reuters) - The financial services regulator in Bermuda, an offshore insurance market, has for the first time named a foreign insurance regulator to its board, saying the appointment will complement efforts to work with international regulators.
Walter Bell, Alabama's chief insurance regulator, joins the board of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) on Tuesday, Bermuda's Finance Minister Paula Cox said on Monday. Bell also sits on the executive committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), comprised of U.S. state insurance commissioners.
Bell replaces Brian Duperreault, who was earlier this year named chief executive of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan (MMC.N), and has decided to quit the BMA's board to give MMC his full attention, Cox said at a press conference.
"Mr. Bell's expert knowledge and regulatory experience in U.S. insurance markets will complement the cooperative efforts of the two jurisdictions in the international regulatory arena," she added.
Bell is also vice-chairman of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, an organization that represents insurance regulators in roughly 140 countries with a goal of working together on an international level to promote efficient, fair, safe and stable insurance markets around the globe.
His appointment marks the first time the BMA has named someone from outside of Bermuda to its board, and amid a whirlwind of activity at the BMA, which has said it is bolstering staff in its insurance division as it strives to reach "mutual recognition" with overseas regulators. [See related story, ID:N02298136] Bermuda is also tweaking its insurance legislation to incorporate risk-based capital standards for most insurers based on the island, a British colony in the mid-Atlantic.
The BMA has oversight of Bermuda's financial services industry, including its insurance and reinsurance sectors. In the United States, insurers are regulated on a state-by-state basis, although state regulators are linked together under the NAIC, which has spearheaded some efforts to standardize procedures. (Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
