The Autoridade de Supervisão de Seguros e Fundos de Pensões (ASF) joins IAIS cooperation and information exchange agreement
Basel, Switzerland / Lisbon, Portugal – The Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF), Portugal, has become a member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) – an international supervisory cooperation and information exchange agreement.
“We are pleased to welcome Portugal ASF as a signatory to the MMoU,” said Shigeru Ariizumi, Chair of the IAIS Executive Committee. “As we have experienced over the past years of social and economic challenges, there are enormous benefits to the global insurance sector when supervisors are able to cooperate quickly and effectively across jurisdictions. The MMoU is an essential regulatory tool for supervisors to foster safer and more stable insurance markets.”
“I am pleased that the Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority has become a signatory to the IAIS MMoU,” stated Ms. Margarida Corrêa de Aguiar, President of ASF. “This agreement strengthens our ability to work cooperatively with other international supervisors – cooperation that is critically important to promoting effective supervision and protecting the consumers in Portugal.”
The IAIS MMoU provides a global framework of compliance and confidentiality to allow for open cooperation and exchange between insurance supervisors. To become a signatory to the MMoU, applicants undergo a rigorous assessment of their professional secrecy regimes, conducted by an independent team of IAIS members. Through membership in the MMoU, supervisors can exchange relevant information and assist other signatories, thereby promoting the financial stability and sound supervision of cross-border insurance operations for the benefit and protection of consumers.
Since the first jurisdiction was admitted in June 2009, the number of members has grown significantly, now representing three-quarters of global gross written premiums. A complete list of international signatories and a copy of the MMoU can be found on the IAIS website by clicking here.
More information
The Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF) is a legal person under public law and an independent administrative entity, responsible for the supervision and regulation of the insurance, reinsurance, insurance mediation and pension funds activity. ASF’s mission is to guarantee the regular functioning of the insurance and pension funds market by promoting stability and financial soundness of the entities under its supervision, as well as by guaranteeing the maintenance of high standards of conduct by those entities, with the primary purpose of protecting policyholders, insured parties, underwriters, participants, beneficiaries and injured parties. For more information about the Agency, please visit https://www.asf.com.pt/ or follow it on LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram.
The IAIS is a global standard-setting body whose objectives are to promote effective and globally consistent supervision of the insurance industry to develop and maintain fair, safe and stable insurance markets for the benefit and protection of policyholders and to contribute to the maintenance of global financial stability. Its membership includes insurance supervisors from more than 200 jurisdictions. For more information, please visit www.iaisweb.org and follow us on LinkedIn: IAIS – International Association of Insurance Supervisors.
Please find the press release in pdf here.
Media contact:
Melanie Clowes-Haug (IAIS)
+41 61 280 8442
IAIS-Press@bis.org
Rui Fidalgo (ASF)
+351 217 983 947
imprensa@asf.com.pt