Bermuda Concludes Cooperation Agreement with Swiss Regulators
The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has exchanged Letters of Cooperation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The Letters “formally establish the basis for consultation, cooperation and coordination between the Authority and FINMA,” the bulletin explained.
“They set the criteria for information exchange relevant to each authority’s supervisory, regulatory and examination responsibilities of insurance entities. The Letters follow the principles of the International Association of Supervisors Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (IAIS MMOU), the international standard for regulatory cooperation.”
Jeremy Cox, CEO of the Authority and Monica Machler, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of FINMA, formally exchanged the Letters at the World Insurance Forum which took place in Bermuda from 14th to the 16th March in Bermuda.
Cox indicated he was pleased to have established “a formal basis of cooperation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. This agreement with FINMA builds on the Authority’s long-standing tradition of mutual assistance with our overseas regulatory counterparts. It is also a demonstration of the Authority’s and FINMA’s collective commitment to cooperate at the highest international standards, as established by the IAIS MMOU.”
The BMA noted that the Letters are the “latest in a number of similar agreements that the Authority has signed to formalize existing working relationships and interactions with regulatory bodies overseas. It also complements the Authority’s ongoing work to implement group-wide supervision, which requires effective supervisory cooperation. The Authority has published details of its proposed group-wide supervision regime, which is a critical component of its regulatory change program in preparation for achieving regulatory equivalence for Bermuda’s insurance framework with other major international markets.”
Source: Bermuda Monetary Authority – www.bma.bm