Tiner: Mandatory disclosure may be necessary

LONDON—Mandatory disclosure of commissions paid by insurers to brokers in the London insurance subscription market moved a significant step closer yesterday, when John Tiner, the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, said the market was "light-years" away from finding its own solution.

Mr. Tiner told London market professionals during a speech to the Insurance Institute of London held at Lloyd's of London, that he has, therefore, reluctantly ordered a more "objective and forensic" look at the possibility of mandating commission disclosure, and that it would be a "priority" for the FSA's coming business plan for 2007/8.

Mr. Tiner said that this decision had been made mainly because the London insurers' and brokers' positions on this issue are so "polarized" that it is difficult to see how market forces could deliver a solution.

The regulator also said that he is disappointed that the buying community had failed to rise to the challenge he made at the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers annual conference in June.

Mr. Tiner told risk managers at the AIRMIC conference in Bournemouth, England, that he wanted the market to find its own solution and avoid the need for regulatory intervention.