Regulatory regimes around the world are increasingly inconsistent, leading to higher costs and a growing threat of reputational damage, said Thomas Hürlimann. "Prior to the financial crisis, we hoped for more consistency but now there is only one trend, which is fragmentation and protectionism."
Mr Hürlimann told delegates at the event in Munich that the confusing regulatory environment is a reaction to the global financial crisis.
"Prior to the financial crisis, we hoped for more consistency but now there is only one trend, which is fragmentation and protectionism," he said in his speech on the first day of the conference in Munich.
Mr Hürlimann gave the 2011 floods in Thailand as an example. The catastrophe resulted in high losses for the global insurance industry, partly because of regulations in Thailand, he said. "The regulatory environment hindered us from bringing our own experts in," he said.
Reputational risks are also on the rise because of the regulatory fragmentation, according to Mr Hürlimann. The big fines levied on banks for their role in the financial crisis should serve as a warning for the risk transfer industry and wider business community, he said. "As insurers, brokers and companies we have to ensure that protection of our reputation is always safeguarded," he added.
The insurer also said that technological progress and the trend towards urbanisation and globalisation means that companies face a wider range of risks than ever before. "The risks in the world are growing faster than the global gross national product," he said. "We are working in a growth industry," concluded Mr Hürlimann.
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