STOCKHOLM—Insurers should set aside their egos and collaborate on an industrywide solution to the problem of global program compliance, an expert told the Federation of European Risk Management Assns. forum in Stockholm.

Praveen Sharma, global leader of insurance regulation and tax consulting at Marsh Inc. in London, said Tuesday that insurers should cast aside the idea that their proprietary databases on national regulations and taxes are a differentiator, and should therefore be kept private. Instead, they should share knowledge to help give risk managers assurance that their programs are compliant, he said.

When asked why it was difficult for the industry to devise a single database, Mr. Sharma said “egos.”

Helen Hayden, group insurance risk manager at Prudential P.L.C. in London and a board member of the London-based Assn. of Insurance & Risk Managers, said she and other risk managers need to be able to rely on their own insurance coverage rather than seeking recourse from the errors and omissions policy of their brokers should a problem with compliance arise on a global program.

Ms. Hayden is leading AIRMIC's efforts to find an industrywide solution to the difficulties in ensuring that global programs comply with local regulations and tax regimes.

John Hurrell, CEO of AIRMIC, said the association is in discussions with insurers and other risk management bodies about devising a single, open-source database. Longer term, he said he hoped that a global database updated by regulators every time there is a change in their laws could be established.

FERMA President Peter den Dekker called on the industry to “start moving to a solution.”

“We need to keep the pressure on,” he said.

“We don't have time to build something new and reinvent the wheel,” he said. Insurers already have existing sources of information, and it is time for collaboration, he said.

While a database is important, it also is important to understand local practices and have employees on the ground, noted Yves de Mestier du Bourg, head of the international network of AXA Corporate Solutions, a unit of AXA S.A., in Paris.

He added that it is vital to have input from national regulators, as laws often are open to interpretation.

Martin Strnad, legal counsel for Zurich Financial Services Ltd., said his company is working to share its knowledge with clients and brokers.

He said there are various nuances in the way laws are applied, depending on how risks are underwritten and the limits involved. There is no “one size fits all solution,” he said.

The session was moderated by Julia Graham, chief risk officer of London-based law firm DLA Piper U.K. L.L.P. and vp of FERMA.