The members of the International Insurance Council (IIC) voted July 9 in support of a resolution to dissolve the organization.IIC Chairman Joe Hamilton of Liberty International, and IIC President and CEO Kevin T. Cronin, said in a joint statement that structural changes in the global insurance market have brought IIC's members to declare IIC's mission has been accomplished. "Now is the time for the IIC to leave the stage and take a bow for playing a central role in the industry's most significant global insurance trade achievements of the past half-century," the statement read.
"It is important for us to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of the IIC during its successful life," the statement continued. "We are reminded that the IIC has won the major policy battles relative to international insurance markets. Twenty years ago, U.S. insurers and providers had limited to no access to most of the world's markets.
"Regulatory regimes were highly restrictive and discriminatory against foreign insurers. The landscape has changed radically in that time frame, largely under the leadership of the IIC. Through individual country involvement and international forums such as the GATS and the WTO, the IIC has led the international industry to a new order in which market access is available worldwide, and enshrined in international agreements."
