International trade bodies including the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) have joined forces to create the Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA).

Groups from the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Bermuda, Korea, Japan, Brazil and Chile are among the 31 founding members. GFIA companies account for 87% of global insurance premiums.

“Insurance is very much a global business and insurance industry associations face many of the same issues across the world, in particular the internationalisation of regulations and financial standards,” ICA CEO Rob Whelan said.

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association President Frank Swedlove was elected GFIA’s first chairman at its inaugural meeting in Washington last week.

The federation says it will “be active in commenting on a broad range of issues affecting the international insurance industry”, such as regulatory and supervision developments, market conduct, trade issues, financial inclusion and anti-money laundering.

Peter Braumuller, Executive Committee Chairman of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, has welcomed the creation of the global federation.

“We look forward to working with theGFIA and its members as we all continue to promote effective and globally consistent supervision of the insurance industry,” he said.