Insurers to G-20: We're not banks 

The latest efforts came in advance of the meeting of the Group of 20 scheduled for Nov. 11 and 12 in Seoul, South Korea, in a letter signed by U.S. trade groups representing large insurers and reinsurers, as well as groups representing European, Canadian, Bermuda, Japanese, Brazilian and Australian insurers.

The meeting will address ways the largest nations can join in drafting regulations designed to strengthen and better coordinate regulation of the global financial system.

The letter asks that the world leadership differentiate all insurance industries from banks in crafting measures designed to address systemic risk.

The letter to the G-20 leaders contends that insurance companies have a different risk profile than banks, and that subjecting them to additional capital and reporting requirements in order to prevent systemic risk could well “have the opposite effect by increasing the risk of moral hazard and causing market distortions.”

Read more at the National Underwriter.