Live blog: Global Leaders Forum 2011

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15.35: That’s all folks! Thanks for following and tune in next time.

15.30: Leeson: “The compensation packages that were on offer in the world of finance certainly had a contributing factor in what went on (during the financial crisis). But I do think it became a little bit of a scapegoat for the latest crisis that we face.”

15.21: Is there any such thing as an insurer too big to fail? “I just can’t see that happening,” says Branko

15.13: There’s no arguing with our latest audience poll as almost 100% believe regulators do not have the right skills to govern the insurance industry.

15.03: Photo below: our Regulation & Risk panel

14.59: Moore: “The speed and complexity of business has multiplied significantly since the internet revolution.”

14.51: The panel is debating the role of non-executive directors. “It is not too common to have people who understand the risks of the business,W says Francois.

14.49: It’s a close one! 52% said ‘yes’ and 44% voted ‘no’

14.48: Our audience is asked: “Could insurance face similar scandals to the “rogue traders” incidents that have hit banking?

14.44: Click to find out more about our panel speakers Paul Moore and Nick Leeson.

14.37: The audience sits in silence as Nick Leeson speaks about his role in the Barings Bank collapse. “Transparency will outlast charisma” is the phrase he uses in summary as to why he was never challenged.

14.30: “Staggering” says Paul Moore on the panel

14.29: In our latest interactive audience poll, 88% voted ‘No’ to the question ‘Will Solvency II protect the European insurance market from any collapses?’

14.22: The panel have introduced themselves to the audience and the debate is underway. Did you know the story surrounding Nick Leeson’s role in the collapse of Barings Bank was turned into a film, Rogue Trader, starring Ewan McGregor?

14.18: On the panel we have: Nick Leeson, the original Rogue Trader; Paul Moore, the HBOS whistleblower; Branko Bjelobaba regulation and compliance consultant and Francois-Xavier Boisseau, chief executive of Groupama.

14.15: Hello and welcome back to our final session of the day: Regulation & Risk

12.55: Our audience questions are over and that concludes the session. We’re now breaking for lunch. Back shortly.

12.39: Photo below: The ‘London Market Competitiveness & Global Operations’ panel in action.

12.35: Gittings: “The way to get into Lloyd’s now is to buy someone. It’s hard to indentify the few number of Lloyd’s businesses which are independent.”

12.17: Le Strange: ‘The UK regulator should take a leaf out of Bermuda’s book’

12.13: Gittings: “There is some nervousness in the London market about whether the IT infrastructure is getting better quick enough.”

12.06: Le Strange praises the regulatory environment and speed of setting up a company in Bermuda.

11.58: Marty Becker: “Lloyd’s has created an environment where creativity and entrepreneurialism thrives. Even though Lloyd’s is over 300 years old it has reinvented itself several times.”

11.51: Back in the session our audience has voted overwhelmingly in favour of London still being the centre of the global insurance market. Do you agree? Add your vote in the poll below.

11.49: During the break delegates had a choice of attending two group discussions: Fraud: what are we doing about it? & E-Trading: embracing the online opportunity

11.46: On the panel we have: David Gittings, chief executive,Lloyd’s Marketing Association; David Howden, chief executive, Hyperion Insurance Group; Ken Le Strange, founder and former chairman of Endurance & Marty Becker, president and chief executive of Alterra

11.45: We’re almost ready to get underway with our next session: ‘London Market Competitiveness & Global Operations’

10.45: Our first session of the day has come to an end and everyone floods out of the room for coffee. I’ll be back shortly.

10.41: McKee: “Hopefully Solvency II will better inform carriers of where they should be trading and where they will make returns.”

10.39: An excellent Solvency II question: “Will global insurers pull out of certain markets because it’s not competitive to be there from a capital perspective?”

10.32: McKee: “Not everyone survives the long march. For others there is an opportunity, but you have got to earn the opportunity. I think there is plenty of room in the industry for more and more specialism.”

10.30: Responding to an audience question, Casella says: “The strong organisations will be in a great position to become more effective in their niches.”

10:27: Ray Cox: “I’d be very surprised if there’s not (M&A) activity in the next couple of years.

10.25: Responding to speculation that Marsh wants to buy a consolidator, South unsurprisingly declines to comment. However he said that globally Marsh is always on the lookout at the right price.

10.23: Martin South: “Segmentation and knowing your customers is a key part of our strategy. But then there’s innovation. The other thing that will drive growth and opportunity is acquisition. I think there will be a lot of M&A activity in our industry.”

10.19: We’ve talked a lot about the challenges facing the industry. We’re now on to opportunities.

10.15: Michael Casella: “The key thing I watch out for is when the regulator starts to change the competitive nature of the industry. They should be focused on the consumer.”

10.10: The panel have been debating remuneration and carrier charges. We’ve just had a question from the audience: “Is compliance out of control?”

10.00: Michael Casella: “We have to be so much more careful about where we spend our capital. The worry I have is that some (brokers) do it well and some don’t.”

9.57: Ray Cox: “Everybody is under varying degrees of pressure. I think three-way relationships between insurer/broker/client will become more important.”

9.55: Are insurer/broker relations coming under increased stress, asks editor-in-chief Ellen Bennett.

9.50: Andrew McKee: “I can’t bring any optimism to the economic debate at the moment. It does look very depressing. I expect a double-dip recession is more likely than unlikely.”

9.47: It was a close one! ‘Slightly worried’ just pipped ‘very worried’ in the voting.

9.45: Vote: How worried are you about the industry’s exposure to the eurozone crisis?

9.40: Our panelists are now debating the impact of the global economic crisis on the insurance market.

9.35: We’ve got interactive voting here at the forum. Our audience were asked how optimistic they are about the GI market in 2012. The majority voted for ‘business as usual’

9.30: You can download today’s forum guide by clicking on the link on the right.

9.25: Up first we have a debate on rates and market strategies. The panel includes four chief executives: Andrew McKee, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance; Martin South, Marsh; Michael Casella; Chubb Europe; Ray Cox, Brit Insurance UK.

9.20: We’re almost ready to get underway as the last of our delegates enter the room.

9.15am: Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the Insurance Times Global Leaders Forum from the Hilton Tower Bridge in London.