As the Brexit process moves forward and insurance companies prepare for the UK’s divorce from the European Union, stakeholders in the US are also getting ready for a new era of political and economic relations between the two countries.
The American Insurance Association (AIA), the trade association for leaders in the P/C insurance industry, announced on September 12 that it will be joining the new US-UK Financial and Related Professional Services Coalition in order to foster discussion from both sides of the pond on trade and investment, among other issues.
The formal coalition has only been in the works for the past few months, but the AIA decided that it would be a smart move to have more processes and structures in place for US and UK insurance industries to coordinate their communications with their governments and with each other, added Simchak.
The coalition has put forward three main themes: promote deeper regulatory cooperation for the benefit of market participants, clients, and investors; maximize cross-border market access; and recognize the important role that the changing technological landscape plays in financial services.
“That’s an emerging area with both governments right now, so we thought it would be a useful purpose for this coalition to communicate with our governments about the best way to regulate fintech and insurtech, and whether there can be some transatlantic or US-UK regulatory cooperation on fintech and insurtech,” said Simchak.
The uncertainty in what a post-Brexit world will look like is one of the challenges that Simchak predicts will impact the coalition, but likewise underscores its importance.