The insurance industry wants to work in partnership with the incoming Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure regulation delivers for consumers, says the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Speaking at the ABI’s ‘The way ahead for conduct regulation’ conference Otto Thoresen, director general at the ABI, warned of the need to avoid a “predator-prey” relationship between the insurance industry and the regulator.
He is calling on the government to mandate that the work of the incoming FCA is aligned to the wider needs of society, such as getting an ageing population saving for their retirement.
Thoresen said: “The way ahead for regulation has to be one where the industry and regulator work in partnership to focus on what needs to be done for consumers.
“The insurance industry has been resilient through the crisis and continues to pay out over £190 million a day to millions of customers.
“We have already worked hard to make improvements for customers. And we fully support the creation of the new FCA with a clear focus on consumers, giving the industry and regulator an opportunity to take stock on what can be done better and build on initiatives like Treating Customers Fairly.
“We face a new normal, with the challenges of an ageing population, a squeeze on household and public budgets, low interest rates and low growth. Insurance has always been about developing solutions for these challenges and the work of the new regulator must support us to continue to do this.”
The ABI has set out six key themes for the industry and the FCA to take forward in a partnership relationship:
¦Making markets and regulation work to deliver public policy goals
¦A regulator that is in touch with the consumer experience
¦Regulation focused on markets delivering products that meet consumer needs
¦Facilitating effective competition and innovation in financial services
¦Actively shaping the FCA’s wider regulatory programme with the EU and the UK
¦Building mutual confidence and respect between the FCA and the industry.
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