Insurance supervisors must co-ordinate their actions globally and allocate resources to protect policyholders, according to the leader of the world’s government regulators.

International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Executive Committee Chairman Peter Braumuller told a seminar hosted by the Geneva Association in Basel, Switzerland, that the industry must respond to the growing “interconnectedness” of the insurance marketplace.

He says the IAIS is working on more effective global supervision of insurers and currently developing methodology to identify any global systemically important insurers and potential policy measures applicable to them.

This year it will launch a two-month public consultation on how the globally important insurers can be identified, followed by another two-month public consultation on policy measures that should apply to them.