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Regulators challenged by insurtech innovations

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Regulators challenged by insurtech innovations

NEW YORK — The pace of innovation and progressive application of new technologies in the insurance sector poses challenges for regulators, according to experts and public officials speaking at a meeting at The New York City Bar on Friday.

Members of a panel discussion on the legal implications for insurtech were asked about their concerns during the meeting, which focused on current issues in insurance regulation.

Deborah Stalker, deputy general counsel and director of global business support for Chubb Ltd., said she thinks about “where all the innovation, insurtech and ‘internet of things’ fits into the existing insurance laws, and whether or not there are changes that need to be made to the insurance laws, because some of the insurance laws date back to the 1930s and 1940s. We have some policy forms which date back that far as well.”

As insurtech, fintech and the use of advancing technology become more prevalent, “the financial services industry needs to keep pace with that,” Maria T. Vullo, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, said in her keynote address. “We as regulators need not only to keep pace with it but try to get ahead of it, and we’re certainly trying to do that at DFS.”

Regulators must take care not to roil consumers, William Latza, chief compliance officer and general counsel with Lemonade Insurance Co., said during the panel discussion.

“The customer experience is so important to the digital marketplace, and regulation needs to catch up with the notion that customer service can be delivered in various different ways,” he said. If regulation and laws “stand in the way of a good customer experience, then they’re not really doing what they’re supposed to do,” he said.

On the insurtech panel, Dana Wiele, senior vice president and associate general counsel with RGA Reinsurance Co., said he thinks about opportunity: “When I look at the opportunities with big data and what a big asset it is, if data is an asset, I would like to treat it more like an asset. That’s what drives everything in our business — big numbers.”

Challenges accompany the opportunities presented by big data, Ignacio Rivera, deputy general counsel, chief compliance officer and assistant secretary with Munich Reinsurance America Inc., said during the panel discussion.

“We must show the regulators that big data can be used in a positive way,” he said. “I think the challenge is, are regulators afraid of it and the potential of using it for discriminatory purposes.”

 

 

 

 

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