A.M. BestTV at VCIA: Prospect of Federal Rules for Cyber Puts Pressure on Insurers and States, Say Panelists

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In this ^A.M.BestTV episode from the annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) conference in Burlington, VT, captive insurance executives said new rules at the federal level on cyber security would pre-empt many state standards, but also would hasten the adoption of cyber strategies. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cyberreg818 to view the entire program.

Appearing in the episode are David Provost, deputy commissioner, Vermont Captive Insurance Division; Sandy Bigglestone, director of captive insurance, Vermont; and Brenda Stewart, assistant vice president, senior account manager, captive management services, American International Group, Inc. (AIG). For full video coverage of the VCIA 2018 conference, including exclusive executive interviews, visit http://www.ambest.tv/vcia18.

Stewart addressed what these new laws could mean for captives.

“At AIG, the impression was that we had some time to think about these new laws,” said Stewart. “However, all of a sudden, all insurance companies, including captives, have to start adopting these new laws, which means that we are going to have to fast forward the way we are thinking about cyber security. Putting in the protocols and understanding what we have to do on the documentation and testing, and assessing those risks.”

Bigglestone and Provost highlighted what protocols Vermont has in place today when a captive is attacked by a cyber-breach.

“Vermont recognizes that many of its captive owners already have some pretty sophisticated cyber security protocols and plans in place, including response plans,” said Bigglestone.

Provost said, “A very small company reported a breach, told us how and what happened, as well as what they were doing to fix it. …We have talked about that a lot with many companies already. The model law is pretty practical in many respects.”

Other VCIA-related episodes of ^A.M.BestTV include:

Better Movement of Information Via Blockchain Should Spark Captive Growth, Say Executives: Rocco Mancini, consultant, captive solutions, Marsh, and Havell Rodrigues, chief executive officer, Adjoint, said industry participants and regulators have seen the benefits of blockchain technology and are taking early steps to widen its adoption: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=blockchain3818.
Insolvencies Tied to RRGs Formed for Short-Term Reasons, Says Medical Liability Panel: Captive experts say that some risk retention groups (RRGs) that were formed to take advantage of temporary hard-market conditions had poor outcomes compared with RRGs that pursued better underwriting and reserving practices: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=medmalrrg818.
Soaring Risk: Panelists Explain How They Launched a Hang-Gliding RRG: Risk professionals behind a RRG devoted to covering hang gliders and their associations describe how they crafted their own risk solution after losing traditional coverage: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=hanggliding2818.
Traditionally Low Profile, the Captive Sector Draws Increasing Scrutiny: Executives say captive insurers are drawing increased attention from regulators, tax authorities and their own sponsors: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=vcia1818.

^A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information.