Calling itself the IUA Americas Committee, the group, which represents an expansion from a unit that has focused on the United States and Canada, will track legislative developments among its many activities.
Nick Lowe, director of government affairs noted economic growth in Brazil and Argentina as driving the effort. "The London company market is well-placed to play an important role by providing specialist coverage that may not be available in local markets and will help promote further growth," he said in a statement.
Noting that "unnecessarily restrictive regulation" in those areas would hamper both insurers and their customers, Lowe pointed to laws in Argentina on the repatriation of assets held in other jurisdictions as well as Brazil’s current legislation on the cession of reinsurance business as examples.
In Brazil, the reinsurance market has opened up after seven decades of control by a state-sponsored monopoly, said the group, but there remains an obligation for 40 percent of every cession to be offered to local reinsurers.
Despite the opening up of markets in South America, Lowe said, "progress is not always smooth and straightforward."
The new group is preparing to intercede with regulators and governments on behalf of its members in regions where regulatory control is restrictive, said the IUA.