On April 9, 2019, the traditional International Property Forum took place with the participation of representatives from the European Insurance Regulatory Bodies, representatives of the insurance industry, consulting firms and policy makers for dealing with financial loss as a result of catastrophic events. The purpose of the event is to understand the impact and resistance  of societies to climate and cyber risks.

The President of the Council of Experts, Klime Poposki was part of the panel that discussed the strengthening of resistance to climate risks by increasing the insurance coverage, together with the Executive Director of the Insurance pool against Natural Disasters of Romania, Ms Nicoleta Radu and the Director of the Spanish Consortium for insurance cover г. Alejandro Izuzquiza Ibáñez de Aldecoa.

In addition, the President of the Council of Experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency Mr.Klime Poposki pointed out the positive results in the development of property insurance, which marked an increase by 19.68% compared to 2017, especially emphasizing the high growth of agricultural insurance, as a special segment of the class of property insurance of 65.98%.

Climate risks have always caused events with serious consequences and enormous huge material and human losses that often remained engraved in the memory. In recent decades, their catastrophic nature has become a growing threat to society’s resistance towards these types of risks. “What have truly contributed to the high growth in our country is the increased awareness among the citizens and the companies related to the risk presence, the active measures for subsidizing 60% of the premium for agricultural insurance, the improvement of the services of the insurance companies in reference to claim payment, as well as the regulatory and supervisory role of the Insurance Supervision Agency and the activities for financial education of the population. “Poposki pointed out at the panel discussion.

The conclusions for successful development of property insurance, especially in the segment of insurance against catastrophic risks from the International Forum are: Public – private partnership between the Government, insurance industry and users of insurance services, introduction of mandatory forms of insurance against natural disasters, regional approach in establishment of insurance pools.

On April 9, 2019, the traditional International Property Forum took place with the participation of representatives from the European Insurance Regulatory Bodies, representatives of the insurance industry, consulting firms and policy makers for dealing with financial loss as a result of catastrophic events. The purpose of the event is to understand the impact and resistance of societies to climate and cyber risks.

The President of the Council of Experts, Klime Poposki was part of the panel that discussed the strengthening of resistance to climate risks by increasing the insurance coverage, together with the Executive Director of the Insurance pool against Natural Disasters of Romania, Ms Nicoleta Radu and the Director of the Spanish Consortium for insurance cover г. Alejandro Izuzquiza Ibáñez de Aldecoa.

In addition, the President of the Council of Experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency Mr.Klime Poposki pointed out the positive results in the development of property insurance, which marked an increase by 19.68% compared to 2017, especially emphasizing the high growth of agricultural insurance, as a special segment of the class of property insurance of 65.98%.

Climate risks have always caused events with serious consequences and enormous huge material and human losses that often remained engraved in the memory. In recent decades, their catastrophic nature has become a growing threat to society’s resistance towards these types of risks. “What have truly contributed to the high growth in our country is the increased awareness among the citizens and the companies related to the risk presence, the active measures for subsidizing 60% of the premium for agricultural insurance, the improvement of the services of the insurance companies in reference to claim payment, as well as the regulatory and supervisory role of the Insurance Supervision Agency and the activities for financial education of the population. “Poposki pointed out at the panel discussion.

The conclusions for successful development of property insurance, especially in the segment of insurance against catastrophic risks from the International Forum are: Public – private partnership between the Government, insurance industry and users of insurance services, introduction of mandatory forms of insurance against natural disasters, regional approach in establishment of insurance pools.

In the period from 3-5 April 2019, the first official mission was accomplished within the technical assistance project for financial education by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands, which takes place in seven countries of the Dutch constituents at the IMF and the World Bank.

In addition to the Insurance Supervision Agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, and the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance are the promotors of this five-year project.

The goal of the project is to build capacities for the development of financial education, as well as to develop a national strategy for financial education of the population.

Within this visit, two round tables were held, attended by representatives from the private sector and representatives from the regulatory institutions on the financial market, who are members of the Coordination Body of the regulatory institutions for financial education and financial inclusion. The representatives of the OECD also held working meetings with the experts from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as with several international organizations.

In the forthcoming period, the Insurance Supervision Agency and other institutions as bearers of technical assistance will continue with continuous activities within the project and with joint efforts will contribute to the capacity building for development of financial education, national strategy elaboration related to financial education and greater inclusion.

The Insurance Supervision Agency, within its mission and vision, continuously accomplishes activities in the field of financial education thus contributing to financial knowledge upgrade not only for the young population, but also elder population.

Within the Global Monet Week this year, the Agency has achieved a number of activities independently, and together with the members of the Coordinating Body for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion, in reference to raising the awareness for greater financial literacy, especially with a focus on the role of insurance and supervision.

The premises of the Agency were open for students from several primary and secondary schools (Strasho Pindzur-Kocani, Faik Konica-Gostivar, St. Kliment Ohridski-Gevgelija, Brakja Miladinovci -Ohrid, Vasil Antevski Dren-Skopje, etc.). In this way the students had the chance to become acquainted with the competencies of the Agency and its operation. Also, within the framework of this event, a visit to one insurance company was organized, since the students had the opportunity to gain information related to the role of an insurance company as a joint stock company and its functioning.

In the course of these visits, students had the opportunity to follow educational presentations through which they acquire greater knowledge about the institutions that are part of the country’s financial system and the financial products and services that they offer.

The Insurance Supervision Agency, in accordance with the tasks in its programs, will continue to organize activities that mean building the capacity of the future generations, which are expected to be the main bearers of the economic and financial flows in our country.

In the sphere of financial education, the marking of the Global Money Week is among the numerous activities undertaken by the Insurance Supervision Agency within its competencies for the development of the insurance market and the development of public awareness of insurance and supervision of insurance. Thanks to the celebration of the Global Money Week taking place in our country many years now, the same as a manifestation has become well recognized among the young population.

On this occasion, the Insurance Supervision Agency started the implementation of the planned activities for 2019 in the field of financial education and financial inclusion. During the upcoming days, schools and universities will be visited, sessions and workshops will be held to raise awareness about the importance of financial education among young people and other participants in the Global Money Week event, informative lectures will be given related to the meaning of insurance products and services, risk management and what this means for young people.

Also, the Agency will visit students from other cities in the country and they will have the opportunity to follow educational presentations and receive educational materials.

The Insurance Supervision Agency, the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Ministry of Finance, the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia, all members of the Coordinative Body for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion signed a Memorandum of cooperation in the domain of financial education and financial inclusion.

The cooperation between the signatories, in accordance with the Memorandum, aims to raise awareness among the population about the need for financial education in the modern dynamic environment, as well as to see the advantages of financial inclusion. The Memorandum is expected to achieve the following objectives:

– Through integrated vision, implementation of educational projects and joint efforts of the signatories, it is expected that it will contribute to raising the level of financial literacy of the population and consequently improving the skills and ability to make sound financial decisions in practice;

– At the same time, the cooperation should enable raising the level of financial inclusion trough strengthening all aspects of accessibility, usefulness, efficiency and better sharing of information on financial services in the country, as well as adequate information on consumer rights in the financial sector. Enhancing financial education and improving financial inclusion should enable optimization the services offered by the financial system in order to support economic growth and social well-being;

– Also, through this Memorandum, activities for cooperation on a regional and international plan with other organizations and institutions in the field of financial education and financial inclusion are being initiated, planned and carried out.

In accordance with the efforts and the achievement of the objective set in the Memorandum, the signatories agree to participate in the following activities:

– encouraging the cooperation with the competent institutions in the country in the domain of financial education and financial inclusion;

– starting initiatives to the competent institutions regarding activities that will support financial education and financial inclusion of the population of the Republic of Macedonia;

– preparation of strategic documents in the area of financial education and financial inclusion;

– defining, proposing and participating in joint projects and activities, improving the financial education and financial inclusion in the country;

– defining, proposing and participating in projects in cooperation with the private sector, in accordance with the scope of activities of the individual signatories;

– applying the best practices and recommendations of the international organizations and institutions;

– organizing and conducting surveys, as well as monitoring the available data on the level of financial literacy and financial inclusion in the country;

– organizing working sessions, seminars and other types of trainings for raising the financial literacy in the country;

– cooperation in the field of monitoring the financial innovations and preparation for their possible application in the country, as well as adequate financial education and monitoring of the financial inclusion of the population in the field of financial innovation;

– promoting regional and international cooperation in the field of financial education and financial inclusion; and

– sharing information in the field of financial education and financial inclusion for the individual projects of each of the signatories with the other signatories.

Today was the second in a row “Global InsurTech Roadshow”, organized by TechQuartier, a famous digital center and Goethe Business School, in Frankfurt, Germany. The event was supported by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). In the panel discussion titled “Regulator’s talk”, the Chairman of the Council of Experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency, Mr. Klime Poposki addressed the present. The panel was moderated by Philipp Krohn of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a well-known German journalist who monitors the insurance industry, while the panel was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Authority for Financial Supervision of Germany Dr. Frank Grund and General Manager of the Israeli Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Capital regulator Dr. Moshe Bareket.

In addition, the President of the Council of Experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency, Klime Poposki emphasized the role of the Agency as a regulatory body for digitization support which in the future will have a strong influence on changing the working processes of insurance companies and insurance intermediaries.

“The changes will mean greater economy in the operation of the insurance companies and this will affect the reduction of the prices of the insurance products, greater and simpler availability to potential insurers, greater efficiency in the settlement of claims, greater satisfaction in the consumption of insurance products and greater stability of the insurance industry, “Poposki said at the panel discussion.

The two-day forum in Frankfurt was attended by eminent representatives from regulatory bodies, insurance companies and intermediaries in insurance, start-up companies and university professors.

In the direction of further harmonization with the EU acquis in the field of insurance and the increase in market operations, the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the Insurance Supervision Agency and the International and Iberoamerican Foundation in the past 21 months worked on a twinning project for which a final event was organized on November 17 2017. The project was implemented by the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds from the Kingdom of Spain.

The main objective of the project is the transposition of the Directive on the establishment and conduct of business activities for insurance and reinsurance – Solvency 2 in new legislation and bylaws.

We already know that the Solvency 2 directive brings news and changes simultaneously for the insurance companies, the insurance and the insurance beneficiaries and is the most significant change in the European insurance industry to date. These changes are so extensive that they affect the change of the entire business model of insurance companies, as well as the risk-based supervision model. I sincerely hope that the results of the twinning project will be our quality guide in the reforms that remain in the insurance market, said Klime Poposki, president of the Council of Experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency, at the final event.

Within the framework of the closing event, a round table was held on the topic “Implementation of Solvency 2”, which was moderated by Mr. Klime Poposki, and representatives from the EU also took part

Javier Castillo, General Directorate for Insurance and Pension Funds of the Kingdom of Spain
Peter Pierre Matek, Chairman of the Board of HANFA, Croatia
Gordana Letica, member of the Managing Board of HANFA, Croatia
Nina Kolchakova, General Secretary of the Association of Bulgarian Insurance Companies, Bulgaria, and
Bostjan Vovk, Deputy Director and Head of the Supervision Department of the Insurance Supervision Agency of Slovenia.

Within the panel, participants presented their views on the implementation of the Solvency 2 Directive in their countries. The main conclusions moved in the direction that this process is complex and requires a lot of engagement and resources for both the insurance companies and the supervisory authorities.

Советот на експерти на Агенцијата за супервизија на осигурување, наседницата одржана на 27.10.2017 година, го усвои Извештајот на Комисијата заизбор на најдобар истражувачки труд одобласта на управување

The Council of Experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency, at the meeting held on October 27, 2017, adopted the Commission’s Report on the selection of the best research paper on risk management and insurance in the Republic of Macedonia for 2017 by declaring the work of Angela Blazheska – “Analysis of the impact of operational risk on the business success of non-life insurance companies in the Republic of Macedonia” the winner of the Competition for the selection of the best research paper on the risk management and insurance in the Republic of Macedonia for 2017. The winner Angela Blazeska presented her paper on November 7, 2017 to representatives of the insurance companies in the Insurance Supervision Agency.

The paper presents an empirical survey of the efficiency of the operation of the insurance companies in the Republic of Macedonia in the field of non-life insurance by examining the five companies that have the largest share in the insurance market in the Republic of Macedonia. Through the use of complex quantitative analysis, the goal is to understand the situation of the following indicative success: the gross written premium as the dominant source of income, the impact on it of the number of insurance policies, the liquidated damages and operating costs.

The paper is methodically consistent and contains advanced quantitative analysis, especially in the part of VAR models as innovative in examining the integration of variables, compared to appropriate empirical modern research, and it is the basis for generating individual findings for the selected companies and general conclusions for the same. The operational risk for the companies is one of the crucial factors that affects the business success of Macedonian companies, and on which, especially in the part of the operating costs, companies do not focus adequate attention and improvement of the internal processes.

In this context, the paper has additional value for the insurance market, and the same is useful considering the quantitative findings that need to be used in the operation of companies, but still with limited influence. The paper is dominantly oriented towards the quantitative analysis of operational risk, and it has additional space for in-depth analysis of the overall performance of the companies and the need for a more detailed qualitative analysis of the operational risk and its factors.

Research paper

Presentation