ST. ANDREWS, Scotland—The Geneva Assn. has urged participants at the Group of 20 meeting in Scotland to develop regulations that distinguish insurance risks from those inherent in banking.

The Thursday request by the Switzerland-based think tank followed the European Commission’s adoption in September of plans to overhaul Europe’s financial supervisory system by establishing a board to oversee systemic risk and individual supervisory authorities to oversee insurance, occupational pensions, and banking and securities.

Insurers and reinsurers have said they would be under-represented in such a framework and that risks in the insurance market should be differentiated from those faced by banks.

In a letter to G-20 participants at the two-day meeting that begins Friday in St. Andrews, Scotland, the Geneva Assn. said, “There is a general consensus that the (re)insurance industry was not at the origin of the financial crisis. Overall, it weathered the crisis relatively well, even though it was not immune from the turmoil.”

The group acknowledged a need to monitor macroeconomic risks that could threaten the financial services sector’s stability. However, it also said, “Insurers and reinsurers are less exposed to liquidity risk, not highly leveraged and less interconnected within the financial services industry,” which means any macrosupervisory framework should include adequate representation of the insurance and reinsurance markets.

“We are ready to work together with the regulatory community on the question of what could possibly constitute a systemic risk for (re)insurers,” the Geneva Assn. said in its letter signed by Nikolaus von Bomhard, president of the Geneva Assn. and chairman of Munich Reinsurance Co., and Patrick M. Liedtke, secretary general and managing director of the think tank.

The group urged regulators to avoid using macroprudential oversight to justify burdensome capital requirements on insurers and reinsurers.

“The Geneva Assn. also calls for a comprehensive and coordinated supervision of cross-border groups under the lead of a fully recognized group supervisor, whereby consistent decisions apply to the group and its constituents,” the letter said.