Ward, Richard --- "Foreword" [2012] ELECD 151; in Burling, Julian; Lazarus, Kevin (eds), "Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation

Editor(s): Burling, Julian; Lazarus, Kevin

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849807883

Section Title: Foreword

Author(s): Ward, Richard

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Foreword
Dr Richard Ward, CEO of Lloyd's



As I write this Foreword, in the summer of 2011, the haunting images of devastation in
Japan, New Zealand, Chile and Haiti are still very clear in my mind. These events provide
a vivid reminder to governments, insurers and businesses why insurance is absolutely
crucial for economic development. Nobody has any doubt that the first three countries,
prosperous and well insured, will rebuild and recover, but for Haiti the future is, tragically,
more uncertain. No economy has ever really thrived without some form of risk transfer,
precisely because it helps us to recover more quickly when something goes wrong.
Insurance has always had this simple purpose ­ to protect people and businesses against
risks, and hence the wider economy. There is a simple maxim: what is good for the insurer
is generally good for society. My first message to regulators and lawmakers across the
world, as they design new rules to govern financial services, is to remember this. Insurance
and law have, at their heart, the same aim: to protect society.
The right rules can help the industry to achieve this, but the wrong rules will hinder us.
To get to the right rules one needs the best thinking on the subject. Lloyd's has worked
with Edward Elgar Publishing to produce this book on insurance law and regulation
because we want to play our part in promoting that best thinking. Many of the
contributors to this book are recognised leaders both in ...