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The Association of the Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Turkey hosted the 2006 General Assembly meetings of the European Federation of National Insurance Associations (CEA- Comité Européen des Assurances) on 15- 17 June 2006.
CEA which was established in 1953 is an umbrella institution that plays an important role in determining European Union insurance policies, represents the common interests of European insurers and brings solutions to the problems of the European Insurance Sector. Concerning Europe in general; there are 33 countries whose national unions are members of the CEA.
On the first day of the 53rd the CEA General Assembly Meetings that has been organized with the participation of top-level executives both from the European Insurance Companies and Unions, the CEA Presidential Council Meeting, the CEA Director Generals Meeting and Head of Delegation Meeting were held. During the meetings; 2007 strategies of the CEA, policies concerning the main issues on the agenda of the European Insurance Sector, and the works of the committees were discussed.
After the meetings on the 15th of June, a boat trip on the Bosphorus was organized by the Turkish Association.
The second day of the meetings started with the CEA General Assembly Meeting. The issues on the agenda, the 2006-2007 Strategic Plan and the budget of the CEA were discussed and voted.
In the afternoon, a joint conference entitled “The Insurance Industry: Meeting New Challenges Facing European Society and Economy” was prepared by the cooperation of the Association of the Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Turkey and the CEA. The president of the CEA, Gérard de La Martiniére was the chairman of the conference and the conference has started with the opening speech of Hulusi Taşkıran, the president of the Association. During the conference, presentations on the problems of the insurance sector, possible regulatory solutions to these problems, and the principles of the sector were given by İbrahim Çanakçı, Undersecretary of the Turkish Treasury; Philip Bushill-Matthews, Member of the European Parliament; Michael Koller, the Head of the Swiss Re Regulatory Affairs Department; Yoshihiro Kawai, the Secretary-General of International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and Karel van Hulle, the Head of Unit for Insurance Regulation of the European Commission. In this framework; issues such as the current demographic adversities and the policies developed by the insurance sector, legal arrangements that have been fulfilled, international supervision procedures to be followed in risk management, and examination of the principles of the European Union with a regulatory perspective were handled.
At the end of the second day; a dinner was arranged for the top-management executives of the European Union and Turkish Insurance Sector at Dolmabahçe Palace, Hasbahçe. Ali Babacan, the Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Mehdi Eker, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs attended the dinner, representing the Turkish government. The dinner started with the opening speech of Ali Babacan, the State Minister and the Chief Negotiator, on the works conducted during the harmonization process, and terminated with the concert of the world-famous singer, Fatih Erkoç.
On Saturday, the 17th of June, 2006, a cultural Istanbul tour was organized for the guests. The tour comprised of the Saint Sopiha Museum, the Hippodrome, the Sultanahmet Mosque, the Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern, and the Covered Market.
The foreign guests and the CEA executives extended their thanks to the Association for hosting such a well-organized General Assembly.
Apart from the conference organized with the cooperation of the Association of the Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Turkey and the CEA, all other meetings were open only to the participation of the CEA members. During the meetings, the Association hosted near 250 native and foreign guests.
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In the European Union, works on the Solvency II Project has been going on. The European Federation of National Insurance Associations (CEA- Comité Européen des Assurances) supports the European Union Solvency II Project with the contributions of its member associations. In the framework of harmonization process to the European Union; it is considered to be important for Turkish insurance companies to attend the Solvency II Project; being in mind that Solvency II requirements will be obligatory for the Turkish insurance companies when Turkey will be a member of the European Union.
In this context, works concerning the Solvency II Project both in the European Federation of National Insurance Associations (CEA- Comité Européen des Assurances) that our Association is a member of and in the European Commission have been followed intimately. Accordingly, “Solvency II Committee” has been established by the Association in order to make contributions to this process, and to ensure that our companies’ point of views and proposals are taken into consideration during this process.
The Committee that has been established by the specialists working on life and non-life insurance companies is composed of 10 members and will work until the Solvency II Project is fulfilled. The first meeting was held on the 13th of June, 2006 and the Committee has wired away. During the meeting that was held on the 23rd of June, 2006, on behalf of the sector the Committee gave its opinions on the Standard Approach on solvency capital requirement determined by the European Federation of National Insurance Associations (CEA- Comité Européen des Assurances) and the questionnaires sent to the National Associations by the CEA have been completed.
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The Association has been working on the potential effects of the Draft Mortgage Law to the insurance sector and in this context have been attending the works of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Commission on Planning and Budget actively. In this regard, the Association has held a meeting with the Turkish Treasury executives concerning the necessary arrangements to the legislation, on the 20th of June, 2006.
During the meeting, the views of the Association have been shared with the Treasury executives on the “Title Insurance” draft general conditions that have been prepared by the Treasury. Additionally, during the meeting in order to provide contribution to the works conducted by the Turkish Treasury, Draft General Conditions on “Insurance of the Protection to the Mortgage Creditor” and on “Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance” have been evaluated. The parties have come to an agreement to fulfill the necessary arrangements by the Treasury by taking the drafts into consideration and to once more take the viewpoints of the Association into consideration when the final frame of the drafts are formed. The points at issue are expected to be finalized as soon as possible in parallel with the Mortgage Law
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