The aim of the report "Assessing the potential for systemic risks in the insurance sector Considerations on insurance in Switzerland" (in German) is to develop an independent and differentiated view of systemic risks in the insurance sector, which can be brought into the on-going national and international debates, and to supplement the investigations conducted by the "too big to fail" commission of experts in Switzerland. The relevance of insurance to the real economy is a key driver behind this present study. Even if the insurance sector at large weathered the 2007/09 financial crisis rather well, with the notable exceptions of American Insurance Group (AIG), the US monoline insurers, and financial conglomerates such as Fortis or Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING), it is appropriate to review the soundness of the insurance supervisory regime to mitigate potential negative externalities originating from insurance operations.
