MEFMI Programme Officer Attends High Level Workshop on Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions

The pensions and insurance sectors operate in a complex, risky and interconnected environment. This creates challenges for both the regulated entities and their supervisors. The principal objective for the maintenance of a fair, safe and stable insurance and pensions sector for the benefit of its stakeholders cannot be over emphasised.

MEFMI Program Officer Financial Sector Management Program, Mrs Sipho Makamba recently attended the International Insurance and Pensions Program organized by the Toronto Centre in Montreal, Canada. The objective of the program was to provide participants with the opportunity to practice the roles that insurance and pensions supervisory/regulatory authorities, ministries of finance, deposit insurers and central banks, play in managing a crisis arising from problems in potentially systemically important insurance or pensions’ institutions.

The international program was targeted at senior officials in the regulation and supervision of Insurance and Pensions from non-bank financial sector regulatory authorities, Deposit Insurance and Ministry of Finance officials. There were 34 participants from 22 countries namely Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. 

One of the key learning tools was Simulation exercises which proved to be practical and effective. Regulators often have to deal with several sets of stakeholders. The skills sets of dealing with stakeholder and decision making were practiced in a realistic manner.

In addition to enhancing her technical skills in respect of insurance and pension’s supervision, Mrs. Makamba developed an action plan that is likely to be used in developing the programme content for 2016 MEFMI regional workshops on the regulation and supervision of insurance and pension funds.  This has been informed by demand to extend coverage to this area as some central Banks also have a responsibility for supervision of non-bank financial institutions.