Comment - Considering the bigger picture.

(From Reinsurance)

Byline: Isobel McCalman, Editor.

Reinsurance is typically described as a global market and it certainly does have multinational players who trade across many borders. The capital invested and the risk underwritten can also be considered to be without frontiers. However, having had the opportunity to discuss the business with reinsurance practitioners in three continents (Europe, North America and Asia) over the past few weeks, there has been ample chance to contemplate the complexities behind the simple 'global' concept.

It is true that many of the issues under discussion are the same. From New York to Singapore the depletion of capital caused by the fall in the equity markets, for example, is an issue of concern for buyers and reinsurers alike. Christian Milton's concise expression of the dilemma (see page 16) is a reminder that it is a great many years since reinsurers had to rely on underwriting discipline for their profits. And for the Asian market, the signs of economic recovery are tempered by the losses in other parts of the world.

But the global market is also a problematic place for reinsurers. For example, how can a global market be regulated? The issue of regulating reinsurance is complex enough when taken on a country-by-country basis but when companies work across many jurisdictions, how can ...