The Association has Completed its Preparatory Works Before the Beginning of EU Negotiations
The Association, before the beginning of the membership negotiations of Turkey with the EU, has completed its preparatory work on the harmonization of the Turkish insurance sector with the single European insurance market.

In the process of harmonization with the EU Acquis Communautaire, the Association first published a comprehensive “EU Guide on Insurance Legislation” for the use of the Turkish insurance sector. The “EU Guide on Insurance Legislation” enshrines chapters on the creation of a Single Insurance Market in the EU, summaries of EU Acquis Communautaire on Insurance, infringements of the Acquis by Member States, EU Enlargement 2004 and Insurance.

Also, a two day seminar on “EU Insurance Legislation” was held in cooperation with the Association and TAIEX (Technical Assistance Information Exchange Unit). During the seminar, leading insurance experts of the EU made extensive and informative presentations on the insurance legislative framework and its implementations in EU member states and informed about the harmonization works of new member states.

The Association has organized the “First National Insurance Symposium” in order to help the Turkish Insurance sector to comply with the EU standards. During the Symposium, crucial topics such as tax practices, insurance regulations were extensively discussed.

Within the scope of the series of meetings called “the Primary Problems of the Turkish Insurance Sector throughout Turkey’s EU Membership Process” seminars on “Resolving the Problems in Implementing the Uniform System of Accounts” and “Solvency II” have been organized by the Association.

The adaption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used in all EU member states by 1.1.2005, is another important topic which is on the agenda of the Association. In order to adapt these standards to the Turkish Insurance sector effectively, to get technical assistance, a business agreement has been made with a leading accounting and consulting firm and a working group composed of the representatives of the Association, its member companies, General Directorate of Insurance, Insurance Supervisory Board and Turkish Accounting Standards Board is established by the Association to provide views and suggestions on Financial Reporting Standards on Insurance to the General Directorate of Insurance. The working group will convene periodically and complete its tasks on all the standards by the end of November.

On June, representatives of the Association had a series of meeting with the representatives of the European Commission DG Internal Market and the leading European Insurance Associations about the structure, basic indicators and problems of the Turkish insurance sector on its harmonization process with the European single insurance market. The Association also had meetings with CEA and OECD Insurance Department managers.

The Association will Organise an International Symposium in Cooperation with the World Bank on 8-9 December 2005
The Association will organize a two-day Seminar on “Global Conference on Insurance and Reinsurance for Natural Catastrophe Risk” in cooperation with the World Bank on 8-9 December 2005.

The International Symposium will be held in İstanbul with the participation of domestic and international insurers and reinsurers, insurance regulators, reinsurance brokers, national disaster fund managers, emergency management authorities, and the representatives of World Bank Group and the Association.

During the Symposium, the participants will compare various models and consider the applicability of catastrophe insurance schemes in their own countries. The countries whose schemes will be discussed in the Symposium are China, India, Indonesia, New Zealand and Turkey.

 Click here to see the leaflet of the Symposium

The Association's Project on the Use of IFRS in the Insurance Sector Continues
The working group which is established by the Association to provide views and suggestions on Financial Reporting Standards on Insurance continues its work.

As of 30 September 2005, the standards completed by the working group are;

 IAS 16 (Property, Plant and Equipment)
 IAS 17 (Leases)
 IAS 38 (Intangible Assets)
 IAS 32 (Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation)
 IAS 39 (Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement)
 IAS 5 (Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations)
 IAS 40 (Investment Property)
 IAS 36 (Impairment of Assets)
 IAS 21 (The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates)
 IAS 24 (Related Party Disclosures)
 IAS 37 (Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets)

The total number of financial standards is 30 and the working group, which is composed of the representatives of the Association, its member companies, General Directorate of Insurance and Insurance Supervisory Board and a leading accounting and consulting firm, will complete its tasks on all the standards until the end of November 2005 as planned before.

The Association Held its Second Seminar in the Context of a Series of Seminars on "the Primary Problems of the Turkish Insurance Sector throughout Turkey's EU Membership Process" on 30 September 2005.
The Association continues to organize seminars concerning “the Primary Problems of the Turkish Insurance Sector throughout Turkey’s EU Membership Process” in which specialists of the discussion topic make presentations to inform the insurance sector representatives on various issues.

The topic of the second meeting held in the premises of the Association was “Solvency II”. The seminar started with the speech of the Deputy Secretary General of the Association, Assoc. Prof. Dr Suna Oksay.

In the seminar, the Head of Unit of the Undersecretariat of Treasury General Directorate of Insurance Ms. Şule Avcıoğlu, Head of Marmara University Institute of Banking and Insurance Prof. Dr. Niyazi Berk and PricewaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg Office Representative Mr. Thierry Flamand made presentations on current Solvency regulations and Solvency II Project. The meeting drew large audiences from the insurance sector.

The Association's New Magazine "Journal of Insurance Studies" will be Published in October
Our Association will publish a new magazine called “Journal of Insurance Studies” in October, in order to contribute to the development of the insurance sector in Turkey,

The new magazine will aim at providing an academic source for the Turkish insurance sector and researchers, and it will consist of the works of insurance sector professionals, specialists and academicians. The magazine will have two parts; “Articles approved by the Scientific and Advisory Board” and “Articles not presented to the Scientific and Advisory Board”.

The magazine “Journal of Insurance Studies” will be published two twice a year and distributed to our members companies and all related Institutions.

The Second Edition of the Book of First National Insurance Symposium Published by the Association
InTo meet the demand of the sector, the Second Edition of the book of First National Insurance Symposium which consists of full text of the presentations and speeches made during the “I. National Symposium which has organized on 24 May 2005 by the Association has been published.




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