Interview with Abderrahim Chaffai, President ACAPS: Progressive and inclusive regulation for resilient Insurance coverage and Social Safety

Interview carried out by Afifa Dassouli

La Nouvelle Tribune: ACAPS has simply revealed its new three-year strategic plan 2024/2026. What evaluation do you make of the Authority’s two earlier strategic plans?

On this context, you’re conscious that a number of tasks have been carried out for the reason that creation of ACAPS in 2016, with the purpose of upgrading the regulatory framework which governs the insurance coverage exercise, with a view to align our regulation and supervision system with one of the best worldwide requirements. Allow us to recall on this regard that convergence in direction of worldwide requirements has been established because the central axis of our two strategic plans 2018-2020 and 2021-2023.

To this finish, the Authority has carried out a number of large-scale regulatory tasks. For instance, we labored on the overhaul of a number of points of the insurance coverage code and amended the final round taken for the appliance of sure provisions of regulation n°17-99 regarding the insurance coverage code which was revealed on Thursday July 21, 2022. This modification introduces, amongst different new options, the promotion of inclusive insurance coverage in addition to the modernization of the insurance coverage sector via the growth of the scope of distribution of insurance coverage operations to fee establishments (EDP) , by permitting them to current the operations assembly the situations set by the stated round.

I may also point out the publication of the instruction regarding the net sale of insurance coverage merchandise in addition to the completion of your entire regulatory corpus regarding Takaful insurance coverage and the granting of the primary approvals to insurance coverage corporations and Takaful reinsurance.

Within the area of social safety, the Authority has labored to assist public authorities in upgrading this sector, significantly within the present context, via the generalization of social safety. On this respect, the Authority notably supported the nationwide challenge of generalization of obligatory medical health insurance “AMO” by ruling on a number of associated legislative and regulatory texts, specifically these aimed on the extension of medical protection to totally different classes of self-employed staff.

All these advances have enabled the Authority to consolidate its position as regulator and supervisor of the 2 strategic sectors of Insurance coverage and Social Safety.

What are the principle axes of the brand new ACAPS strategic plan?

Our new 2024-2026 strategic plan relies on 5 strategic orientations, damaged down into a number of targets and precedence actions.

Thus, ACAPS will proceed to work actively to enhance its safety framework for policyholders and contract beneficiaries in addition to members and associates of social safety organizations. It’s also dedicated to growing the group and market conduct of the insurance coverage sector and to making sure the resilience of gamers in addition to monetary stability.

Moreover, the Authority is firmly dedicated to supporting sustainability and selling the event and transformation of the insurance coverage sector, specifically via the promotion of digitalization and innovation.

Moreover, the Authority is dedicated to persevering with its assist of public authorities in upgrading the social safety sector and to contributing to the tasks of increasing social safety and retirement reform.

As well as, ACAPS will proceed to consolidate its place as an revolutionary, agile and enticing Authority, consistent with digital developments and open to its nationwide and worldwide surroundings.

What about strengthening supervision of the insurance coverage sector?

This query has been of capital significance for the Authority since its creation and is certainly on the coronary heart of our mission as regulator of the insurance coverage sector. Thus, the Authority will proceed its efforts to determine trendy and environment friendly supervision of the insurance coverage sector, by guaranteeing common monitoring and surveillance of the dangers to which stakeholders could also be uncovered.

On this regard, there are quite a few strategic tasks carried out by ACAPS. I’ll cite specifically the prudential system regarding Danger-Primarily based Solvency “SBR” which goals to strengthen the resilience of insurance coverage and reinsurance corporations within the face of all of the dangers incurred, the development of their governance system and strengthening the transparency of knowledge for the regulator and the general public.

By way of rising dangers, the Authority intends to strengthen the supervision of local weather threat by putting in particular necessities and processes because of the points regarding local weather change that might have an effect on the resilience of insurers.

Likewise, elevated vigilance will probably be paid to the dangers related to new applied sciences, significantly cyber dangers, that are more and more changing into a rising risk to the insurance coverage sector. On this regard, the Authority plans to strengthen the monitoring and prevention of those cyber dangers, by guaranteeing that insurers put in place a exact governance framework when it comes to cybersecurity.

The Authority may also proceed to enhance its supervision instruments and strategies, adapting them to the risk-based strategy and strengthening using know-how and digitalization. On the identical time, the Authority will proceed its dedication to combating cash laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). Thus, after having accomplished the transposition of worldwide requirements, specifically these of the FATF, into its regulatory system and putting in management and monitoring mechanisms, it would proceed over the following three years to work for the whole alignment of the sector of insurance coverage to those requirements and can consolidate its AML/CFT surveillance and management programs, via the strengthening of the risk-based strategy and the continued automation of its system.

On the monetary stability side, ACAPS will proceed to consolidate its macroprudential monitoring and supervision system, specifically by strengthening its analytical and stress take a look at framework.

The place is the implementation of the risk-based solvency challenge?

This challenge is heading in the right direction. Its implementation has already begun with the entry into drive in February 2021 of its 2nd pillar which offers with qualitative necessities, with a deployment schedule accomplished on the finish of 2023.

Concerning pillar 1 regarding quantitative necessities, three influence research have been carried out with a purpose to take a look at the mannequin and stabilize the calibration of the shock parameters to be utilized to the totally different dangers to which insurance coverage corporations are uncovered. These research made it doable to measure the influence of the brand new guidelines on the prudential stability sheet objects of insurance coverage and reinsurance corporations, the solvency capital requirement and the solvency ratio.

It’s also price noting that the design of Pillars 1 and three of the SBR framework has been accomplished. It’s anticipated that the draft round transposing the technical specs of pillar 1 and the necessities regarding reporting (pillar 3) will probably be finalized throughout 2024 and subsequently put into the adoption circuit.

How does ACAPS intend to guard clients within the insurance coverage sector?

I wish to emphasize on this regard that the safety of policyholders and beneficiaries of insurance coverage contracts, and of members and members of the social safety system has all the time represented a precedence for our Authority since its creation. Certainly, ACAPS is absolutely dedicated to its mission of defending shoppers of insurance coverage merchandise and provides it a central place in its technique.

A number of advances have additionally been recorded on this regard, significantly when it comes to controlling insurance coverage merchandise and bettering their high quality, processing complaints in opposition to insurance coverage corporations and intermediaries in addition to when it comes to management of business practices.

ACAPS will proceed to take the required measures to additional strengthen the rights of policyholders and beneficiaries of insurance coverage contracts and promote satisfactory provision of companies to them. As such, we plan specifically to work in direction of bettering the compensation course of and strengthening shopper recourse channels for the settlement of disputes and disputes, specifically via the promotion of insurance coverage mediation and consolidation. additionally the system put in place by ACAPS for processing complaints.

In the identical framework, the Authority will be sure that the patron is handled in an accurate, honest, diligent and clear method. The brand new ACAPS technique pays specific consideration to strengthening the supervision and supervision of market conduct within the insurance coverage sector.

Alternatively and bearing in mind the significance of insurance coverage merchandise as the idea of the connection between shoppers and their insurers, the Authority has included in its new strategic plan tasks aimed toward establishing amongst insurers efficient preparations for the governance of insurance coverage merchandise and to enhance the readability of insurance coverage contracts by guaranteeing that contractual stability and the anticipated added worth for the totally different focused shopper teams are maintained.

These measures, allow us to specify, will probably be accompanied by actions linked to the discount of the safety hole, insurance coverage inclusion, bettering the inhabitants’s entry to acceptable protection provides in addition to the modernization of the authorized framework. regarding insurance coverage intermediation to assist adjustments in consumption and distribution patterns.

Moreover, as you understand, we’re deploying a number of actions when it comes to monetary training to allow shoppers to higher perceive insurance coverage services, thus confirming our mission to guard the rights of policyholders. We be sure that monetary teaching programs in areas falling inside the Authority’s scope of intervention meet the wants and degree of information of all residents via the implementation of actions popularization and consciousness elevating for the advantage of totally different targets.