Generali Chair Calls for European Insurance Union

By Pierre Bertrand

The European Union should work toward creating a European insurance union to supervise Europe's largest insurance groups, Assicurazioni Generali's Chairman Andrea Sironi said Wednesday.

Speaking at an event organized by think tank Bruegel in Brussels, Sironi said an insurance union would enable bloc-wide rules as opposed to current member-state level regulation.

The creation of the union would make the insurance industry more efficient, but it ought, however, to be restricted to only the largest European players, he said.

His call comes as the bloc works on improving its competitiveness and on ensuring that Europe remains industrially attractive.

Sironi said the European Union's insurance sector could help spur the bloc's Capital Markets Union and support investments in green and digital transitions.

"Against this backdrop, an improved EU-wide supervisory architecture for the insurance sector, towards an Insurance Union, would render the sector more competitive and boost its full role in an ever-demanding need for protection and investments," Sironi said.

The creation of the insurance union should mirror the steps adopted for the EU's banking union, Sironi said. The so-called banking union was created after the 2008 financial crisis to form a single rule book for the EU's financial sector.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 06, 2023 10:37 ET (14:37 GMT)

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