In the wake of the recent banking scandals, insurers have been left struggling with increased regulations – this is according to Richard Ward, Chief Executive of Lloyd’s of London.
Whilst Mr Ward conceded that after recent events, including the Libor (earlier this year, several banks were accused of manipulating the Libor) and money laundering scandals, increased scrutiny of the financial services industry was inevitable, he maintained that imposing stricter regulations on insurers was unfair. ‘The 2008 financial crisis was not an insurance crisis, it was a banking crisis’. He told Reuters.
There have also been moves by international regulators to include large insurance groups in the same category as global banks that pose a risk to the financial system, which Mr Ward has disparaged as ‘misguided’.