Public Consultation on Issues Paper on Insurance Sector Operational Resilience

18 Jan 2023 in Consultations, Issues Papers, Supervisory and supporting material

Background information

Operational resilience has become an increasingly important area of focus, particularly in light of rapidly evolving technology and innovation, changes to where and how people are working, and an increasing cyber threat landscape. While the concept of operational resilience may not be new to insurers, there is a recognition of the importance to adapt supervisory regimes to account for the growing resilience of insurers on digital systems, the adoption and implementation of new technologies, and the potential for insurers to rely on third party providers to assist in implementation and support.

In response to these emerging trends, the IAIS’ Operational Resilience Task Force (ORTF) has published an Issues Paper on Insurance Sector Operational Resilience. The paper identifies issues impacting operational resilience in the insurance sector and provides examples of how supervisors are approaching these developments, with consideration of lessons learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recognising that operational resilience is a broad and evolving area, the paper addresses the following three operational resilience sub-topics, which the ORTF considers as matters of significant and increasing operational risk and, therefore, of immediate interest to supervisors:

Cyber resilience
Third-party outsourcing
Business Continuity Management.

Stakeholder comments on the Issues Paper were sought from November 2022 to January 2023. Responses were received from a combination of external IAIS stakeholders and members. The responses generally supported the initiative and provided helpful insights on how the IAIS’ could continue to add value going forward with respect to encouraging insurance sector operational resilience. The feedback received and the IAIS’ responses to such are available here.

The final Issues Paper on Insurance Sector Operational resilience is available here.

A public discussion session was held via webinar on 31 May at 15.30 – 16.30 CEST to present the final Issues Paper and answer any questions from stakeholders. A recording of the session was made available here.