How is the European insurance market responding to the challenges of the crisis and what is it doing to prepare for the future? These questions will be addressed at this year’s European Insurance Forum taking place in Dublin this Thursday and Friday.

With Ireland a centre of European cross-border re/insurance business, the Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA) is bringing together the insurance industry to face the future and examine new developments taking place in the global insurance market.

Landscape of risks
Insurers in Ireland have continued to provide ongoing stability to their policyholders for almost 25 years, most recently against a background of events such as Superstorm Sandy and the Costa Concordia sinking, while at the same time dealing with the market turmoil created by the continuing crisis of confidence within the euro zone.

DIMA is now calling on the sector across Europe to come together to identify the new landscape of risks and discuss solutions for the major challenges facing the industry.

Sarah Goddard, chief executive of DIMA, said the nature of risk is changing, and the re/insurance sector must adapt to provide a secure base for its clients to progress and evolve.

“Europe, and Ireland as one of its major insurance hubs, is in the midst of great change and needs to identify and manage the shifting challenges such as risk, reputation and regulation,” she says

Insurance regulation
Speakers at the conference include former Taoiseach and president of the IFSC John Bruton, financial regulator and deputy governor of the Central Bank Matthew Elderfield, MEP Gay Mitchell, Duane Morris partner Hugh McCormick, and David Watson, chief executive of XL Re Europe.

Mr Elderfield will be addressing the topic of insurance regulation, while Gay Mitchell will speak about Ireland and it’s place in Europe.