Comment - Transparency begins at home.

(From Reinsurance)

Byline: Sal Zaffino, chief executive of global reinsurance intermediary Guy

Transparency will be one of the ubiquitous words of 2005 as brokers address the issues to emerge from the Spitzer enquiry. The largest brokers have already taken the action of no longer charging contingent commissions but there is little doubt that all intermediaries face a challenging time ahead.

But as Lord Levene pointed out in January, what recent events have highlighted is the lack of transparency in the (re)insurance sector's workings. They do not meet the requirements of an open, transparent 21st century business environment. And it is not just a question of what the brokers are doing. It is an issue that impacts everyone in the chain.

The industry, as a whole, needs to assess the way relationships within the chain are carried out. The Spitzer investigation has highlighted a good deal of vagueness in these relationships and that is not acceptable.

As well as making these procedures clear to each other, the process also needs to make them clear to the wider financial community as well as regulators and legislators. Many of these people will not be looking at the details of the broker issue to understand who it involves and who it doesn't - all (re)insurers are in the same unsatisfactory boat.

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors has been tackling the subject at the high level required to address "a lack of ...