World Bank looks to offer (re)insurance options
Source: Asia Insurance Review | May 2015
The World Bank has announced that it would significantly expand the range of disaster risk transfer, management and financing options it offers to clients to include insurance and reinsurance coverage.
According to a recent press release, the Bank would also “broaden the definition of disaster risks from those related to meteorological and geological events, to now include pandemics, epidemics and other events affecting health issues such as morbidity, mortality and longevity”.
“This additional flexibility will allow the Bank to better respond to client needs by continuing to enhance what we can offer in our role as intermediary with the markets,” said World Bank Vice President and Treasurer Madelyn Antoncic. “Our participation in what ultimately becomes a risk transfer transaction provides an important demonstration effect to crowd in the private sector as risk takers.”
In the past, the Bank itself could only offer its member countries risk transfer products that were structured as derivatives, meaning that for insurance, reinsurance and other solutions to be included in a transaction, the Bank often had to call on outside help from private markets, said Artemis.bm.