Morocco hosts from November 9th to 13th, 2015 in Marrakech, the General Assembly of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). It is estimated that about 200 jurisdictions representing 140 countries attend the event, organized for the first time in Africa.
During the opening session of this event, held Thursday, November 12th, 2015 in Marrakech, Mr. Mohammed BOUSSAID Minister of Economy and Finance stated that the insurance sector in Morocco is key to development and a driver of economic growth. He stressed in this regard that the momentum of the kingdom at the economic and social levels offers real opportunities for development.
"The performance achieved in this sector in 2014 as regards turnover made it possible for Morocco to continue to occupy the 2nd place at the continental level behind South Africa but ahead of countries such as Nigeria and Egypt where economies are 4 times and 2 times wider than that of Morocco. In terms of insurance penetration, Morocco, with a rate of nearly 3.2%, is ranked second in the Arab world and fifth in Africa, "specified the Minister.
Mr. BOUSSAID also asserted that the implementation of a restructuring and an upgrading program of the Moroccan insurance sector as well as the modernization of the legal framework to be aligned with the IAIS principles, contributed positively to strengthening the financial situation of the sector and accelerating its development.
"In order to meet the IAIS new principles, our country has also just established an independent control authority, which will be operational in the next few weeks, and is about to create a supervisory framework incorporating the risk-based solvency framework, "added the Minister.
Mr. BOUSSAID, thus, noted the key role that regulators should play to ensure the stability of financial markets, particularly after the financial crisis of 2008. He, in this regard, stated that regulators were called upon to contribute to the review of the supervisory framework for financial actors, the development of new means of supervision and the strengthening of coordination between the different regulators.
“It is within that framework that the IAIS mobilized significant resources and made enormous efforts, in coordination with the Financial Stability Board, with a view to setting greater stability conditions of the financial system. The role of supervisory authorities in financial stability is more than ever reaffirmed and supervisory rules were strengthened especially for active insurance groups at the international level and systemically important insurers, "stressed the Minister while drawing attention to another mission of supervision which is that of protecting insurance policyholders. For Mr. BOUSSAID, it is necessary to maintain the resources required and the attention given to this mission from the various regulatory authorities.
The Minister also urged regulatory authorities to monitor market development which is the focus of insurance policyholders and drew their attention to the fact that the adoption of an excessively precautionary approach to ensure financial stability is not necessarily in the interest of insurance policyholders.
"It tends to slow market growth and lead to additional costs for the consumer due to return on capital. It can also lead to market concentration thus slowing the development of small and medium-sized institutions, whose contribution is important, particularly in terms of innovation, "clarified the Minister.
Given its remit, the IAIS is the body that sets the rules and standards applicable to the insurance sector internationally.
Its aim is to work towards a stable international financial system, and to strengthen cooperation between its members.