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The ICISA INSIDER

The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

Newsletter of the International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) Volume 16 | October 2021

CONTENT FOREWORD COLUMN 4 | How well do we do on the scale of sustainability? Column by Richard Lange ICISA UPDATES 5 | “Suretypedia” - Glossary of terms working group 6 | Blockchain Working Group INTERVIEW 8 | Interview with Kay Scholz, President of ICISA

16 | Interview with Benoît des

Cressonnières, Vice-President of ICISA

22 | Interview with Paul Wollny,

CEO of GreenStars BNP Paribas NEW INSIGHTS

12 | ESG Integration into insurance business Insight by Raluca Ezaru

18 | The sharpest tool in the box? - Examining state support in the pandemic and preparing for the future Insight by Daniel de Búrca

24 | Human versus the machine Insight by Michael Holley

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The ICISA INSIDER | How to get a free Subscription? If you would like to be added to the distribution list of The ICISA Insider, please send a message to secretariat@icisa.org

Editorial Information | For suggestions and announcements, please contact: Raluca Ezaru (editor) Raluca.Ezaru@icisa.org

+31 (0)20 625 4115 1

October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Foreword

The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

Foreword Dear reader, Summer is now, sadly, a fading memory here in the Northern Hemisphere as holidays end and everyone gets back to work. We have had the chance to relax and clear our desks ready for the remaining months ahead. I hope the pandemic didn’t get in the way of your plans too much. With a new president and vice-president heading our association, it was nice and active on the ICISA-side. We moved offices to our new location in Spaces @ Schiphol airport. This is just a 10-minute walk from the airport arrivals hall. That makes us flexible to organize ad hoc meetings and to receive our members and partners conveniently. You’re all more than welcome to stop by if you’re in town - we are proud to show you our new accommodation! My highlight of the past few months was travelling to see our members in Zurich. It almost felt normal again having been confined by Covid for so long. It re-affirmed what we all know: there is no substitute for human contact. This is also the reason why we are organizing a physical meeting in Seville on October 27-29. The feedback that we received from members is that we are all looking forward to meeting in person and talking with people that we do not meet every day in a conference room or video call. Equally important and enjoyable are the conversations with new and old friends outside formal settings. Talking about our new president and vice-president, you will find an interview with Kay Scholz and Benoît des Cressonnières in these pages. Their guiding vision for the association leads ICISA in a direction members expect and want. ICISA’s focus is firmly on advocacy, PR and spreading of best practice. Thinking of this past summer, other images than frolicking on the beach come to mind. We had a scorching summer in North America and equally high temperatures around the Mediterranean. Both have led to devastating wildfires. In North-western and Northern Europe, summer brought different challenges, being significantly wetter than usually. Anomalist weather was experienced in parts of Southern Asia too. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its report with a stern warning the prospects for our planet. This has been picked up by regulatory authorities around the world, including by the European insurance regulator (EIOPA). The topic of sustainability now has an even more direct bearing on our industry than before. We have seen that our members are paying close attention and acting in this field. You will find an article on these actions as well as an update on ICISA’s advocacy. Together with articles on our productive working groups and Schumann’s contribution on technology in our industry, I hope that you will spend an interesting and enjoyable time with this edition of The Insider. Richard Wulff

October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Column

How well do we do on the scale of sustainability? By Richard Lange, Arch RE A privilege of living in Switzerland is having the ability to enjoy nature and go out to the mountains. After having experienced a very rainy 2021 summer, I took immediately the opportunity of the first sunny day in September and went out for a day hike. Discovering another new lake (this one at an altitude of 1000m) triggered me to read more about “the Swiss and their water”. Some numbers: Switzerland has around 1500 lakes that together with rivers make up 4% of the total land mass, 6% of Europa’s water resources are linked to Swiss rivers & glaciers and Switzerland has 677 hydro plants producing 56% of total annual energy output. What is the reason for sharing this? Whilst scrolling the web for info on water, I noticed many articles on the melting of the Glaciers. More than 500 of them have completely disappeared since 1850 in Switzerland and glaciologists calculate that the remaining 1500 will not exists by the end of this century if CO2 emissions are not reduced. It reminded me of a great experience from April, where thanks to enthusiastic colleagues at Arch, we joined the Earth Month Eco Challenge (279 companies and 564 teams), a solutionsoriented challenge focused on reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The outcome for me was not only becoming more aware of several environmental aspects but more importantly acting to change old, embedded habits into new, better ones. Here is where I like to make a bridge to our (re)insurance industry. Did lockdown show us that we don’t need to travel to keep the business going? Will we continue the path of working remotely and using fewer forms of transportation that are polluting? Or will we return to our old habits and meet in person without much thought for the impact? Easy questions, but likely getting very different answers when speaking with market colleagues on this. I think it is anyhow good to see that the large majority of (re)insurance companies have meanwhile taken it broader and put emphasis on corporate responsibility (environment, social, governance). Thinking about these three aspects, the question is what

this means for our line of business? Will it influence our underwriting stance? Does this mean declining a request to cover performance bonds on a project that likely endangers nature? Exclude a credit limit on an obligor where it is not clear whether labor rights are fully respected? Can one make such an individual decision without a directive from Governments or International Organizations? All in all, not an easy topic to take up, but I think we have arrived at the point exchanging views on ESG within ICISA and what it means for us. I sincerely hope to see this topic more regularly as a standing item on the agendas of the respective committees. As with many things in life, it all starts with awareness…

ICISA updates | Column |

The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021 The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

A Suretypedia, the vision from the ICISA Surety Glossary Working Group Magdalena Cano Chair of the Surety Glossary Working Group Company: Euler Hermes Re

What is a WGA Bond? What is the difference between a French GFA Bond and a Chilean “fianza de Venta en Verde”? What are the main differences between an “abstract” and a conditional surety bond? These are the questions for which we need clear answers accessible to all interested stakeholders. During the Surety Subcommittee that took place in Rome two years ago, a group of ICISA members created the Working Group dedicated to this purpose. We have been collaborating on a regular basis and have obtained promising results. One of our remarkable achievements has been to agree on a basic scheme with a standard structure, to describe any type of bond, which we could successfully test with selected experts within our organizations, as well as some industry colleagues willing to help. It has proven to be a very effective format to get valuable and standard information. Our Industry counts on many experts willing to share their knowledge. The members of the Working Team account for more than 100 years-experience and have direct access to surety experts working for 5 international leading market players. Our vision is to create a sort of “Wikipedia” for Surety Terms, a “Suretypedia” which can be contributed to and supported by all the professional surety associations around the world.

We recognize a good opportunity to: • Contribute to a common language across the surety industry • Capitalize on our accumulated global surety market technical expertise • Reduce the complexity of terms in our industry • Help new generations of surety underwriters on their professional paths • Provide all stakeholders a reliable source of information How do we intend to get there? We recognize that our objective is a real challenge and requires constant efforts and full support. We are aware that the industry is constantly changing and therefore we need to come up with a framework; a system that allows constant feedback to ensure a living and helpful tool. We are convinced that with an engaged Working Team, with the commitment of contributing experts from all industry associations, with a user-friendly digital platform and with an adequate set of rules it could be possible. It requires an effective “Working together” from all of us, which would be a great contribution from the professional Associations to this very specialized industry. Would you agree? Would you like to join us? We look forward to hearing from you. On behalf of the ICISA Surety Glossary Working Group (Christian Glössner, Atradius; Doris Egli-Schaufelberger, Scor; Guadalupe Quindós, AXA; Heike Hanno, Munich Re; Isidra Vasquez Fermín, Munich Re; Roland Reindl, Munich Re).

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ICISA updates

An update from the Surety Blockchain Working group Greg Davenport Chair of the Surety Blockchain Working Group Company: Liberty Mutual

The Management Committee’s charter for our working group was officially completed in 2020 after we successfully “incubated” the use case for bonds and powers of attorney. We then found and selected RiskStream Collaborative, a non-profit consortium, to take the idea to proof of concept, and, if successful, to production. In 2021 the activity of our working group was shifted to workshops facilitated by RiskStream, at no cost to ICISA or its members. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you the tremendous progress that has been made since that time. The interest and engagement in our blockchain initiative globally is unprecedented, thanks to ICISA’s leadership and vision to make this an inclusive and collaborative effort. Knowing that multiple blockchain initiatives could spread ICISA member company resources thin, ICISA leaders reached out to other surety industry trade associations and invited them to join ICISA in focusing first on powers of attorney and bonds. The Surety and Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP), the Pan American Surety Association (PASA) and the Canadian Surety Association agreed, and joined ICISA in working with the RiskStream Collaborative to build out the use cases for powers of attorney being on the blockchain, followed by bonds. Four virtual workshops were conducted in February through May, with nearly 350 participants attending the first workshop! Over the course of the four workshops 173 separate entities participated, including 63 sureties, 5 reinsurers, 83 agencies/ brokerages, 8 industry associations, the Small Business Administration (a department of the US government), a number of system solution providers and CPAs, and one university. The

workshops focused on powers of attorney. Though POAs are not attached to bonds in Europe, the ICISA blockchain working group agreed it was best to start smaller with POAs and then build upon that effort to add surety bonds to the blockchain. At the end of the workshops it was agreed to take the POA use cases to build a proof of concept. The proof of concept for POA will kick off on October 21st and is expected to take about 4 months. Participating sureties should expect to attend 2 meetings a month virtually, and we are told that technical resources should not be required.

As of September 1st, 10 major sureties have committed to participate in the proof of concept for powers of attorney. These sureties wrote over $3B USD in direct written premium in 2020. Additionally, 4 brokers, including a major global broker are participating, as well as a leading surety system solution provider for agents, brokers and carriers. The 5 global trade associations, including ICISA, will also participate in the POC, free of charge, to assure that member interests are represented.

ICISA updates

While RiskStream Collaborative facilitated the four workshops at no cost to ICISA or its members, the proof of concept requires that participants other than the 5 associations share “cost coverage” for the blockchain solution provider, Kaleido. RiskStream is not for profit so there is no markup for their services, which are covered instead by member dues. Consequently, the cost for ICISA members who belong to the consortium is less than 25% of what was expected had a separate consortium been created by ICISA members alone. For those who do not belong to the consortium, the cost to participate in the proof of concept is less than one business class ticket between Europe and the United States. Even with the modest cost-coverage required for the POA proof of concept, the interest of most ICISA members in Europe, Canada, Latin America and Asia-Pacific is in having bonds on the global surety blockchain. In the interest of ICISA members, Patrice Luscan, Rob Nijhout, Richard Wulff and I worked with RiskStream Collaborative to find a way to accelerate the surety bond phase of the global blockchain initiative. As a result, RiskStream announced in an August press release the launch of the new Bond Signature and Verification Lab in the fall, before the POA proof of concept is even complete. Phase 1 of the Surety Bond Lab will begin in November 2021, only a month after the POA proof of concept begins. As with the POA workshops, these sessions will be free of charge and open to anyone interested. RiskStream expects to host 3 virtual workshops over three months. This phase is being run concurrently with the POA proof of concept to maintain the engagement of ICISA members and other participants that are not involved with the POC. Since “the end game” for the global surety blockchain initiative is to

The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021 The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

have the bonds themselves on the blockchain, we strongly encourage participation to keep the momentum up, and for ICISA members to anticipate a bond proof of concept phase in 2022 with “cost coverage” required. With broader interest in the bond phase, the cost of the bond POC, per participant, should be even lower.

Join the workshops! There is still time to register for the power of attorney proof of concept. Email Sandy Hampel at RiskStream Collaborative. Her email is hampel@ theinstitutes.org.

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October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Interview

Focusing on the future Interview with Kay Scholz During the last Annual General meeting of ICISA, the ICISA membership elected their new President of the association. Back then, Kay Scholz (R + V Re) was elected President of ICISA. Kay Scholz has been a member of the Management committee and Vice President of ICISA since 2018. His election marks also the first nomination and election of a Reinsurer as President of ICISA. We had the occasion to ask him some questions about his plans and priorities for the next months. In the upcoming pages you can read his answers to these questions.

What made you want to accept the nomination of, previously Vice-President and the current President position?

You are the first Reinsurer elected as a President of ICISA. What do you think that are the main challenges and opportunities in this?

When I was asked three and a half years ago by the former president Jos Kroon to become ICISA’s next Vice President, there was no doubt to take that role. Since R+V became an ICISA member, my company and myself received many benefits from this membership. I thought it is valuable and necessary to give something back now. I always thought that an ICISA member is expected to show its commitment to the organization by taking a membership in one of the committees or contribute to one of ICISA’s larger projects like e.g. the latest LGD Study. The three years were insightful, productive and – along the COVID19 situation – kept a certain challenge for the ICISA Management team.

Firstly, since I visited the official ICISA meetings, the group of reinsurers has always played a substantial role for the worldwide Credit and Surety Industry. Without reinsurers, it had been difficult to provide the requested insurance capacity for our lines of business in the past. Therefore, it is appreciated that since 2003 reinsurers were fully admitted members within ICISA. It is a recognition of the importance of reinsurers in our industry that a reinsurer’s representative had been asked to take the President’s role. This provides the chance for the president to make sure that insurance and reinsurance members always cooperate together in respect of ICISA matters.

We kicked off various initiatives. Some of these still need to be finished or to be intensified. This means within the two years in my role as president I put a substantial part of my resource to ICISA projects when needed. This should be seen as my contribution alone, but rather, the member company’s contribution to make ICISA an organization ready for its future.

“The smaller number of reinsurance players compared to their insurers’ equivalents offers the ability for ICISA to gain a concentrated feedback on worldwide market developments in a short period of time, which is key in these days.” From a personal perspective, I am happy to be the first reinsurer in this function, of course. It is an honor but also a challenge. Reinsurers might see the markets from a slightly different perspective as they usually underwrite various lines of business on a worldwide basis.

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Interview

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The secretariat is always open for questions and it looks after the needs of its members. With the possibility of setting up a sub-committee or a working group, ICISA can grant a topic a broader or worldwide perspective. The pandemic related travel restrictions caused a huge deficit in personal exchange – exactly the core competence ICISA is wellknown for. Once we all can meet again in person at ICISA events, there will be no doubt about the benefit of an ICISA membership.

What are your main priorities for your mandate?

The smaller number of reinsurance players compared to their insurers’ equivalents offers the ability for ICISA to gain a concentrated feedback on worldwide market developments in a short period of time, which is key in these days. ICISA can gather, analyze and work with this broad range of industry related information enforcing to serve all their members by tailor-made initiatives. This is my challenge: always being the president of all members and not being biased by my “reinsurance genes”. Luckily, I am not alone - together with Benoît des Cressonieres as vice president and representing an insurer as well as the industry experts in the management committee who represent all categories of members, our governance structure will make sure that everyone’s voice is heard in the organization.

What is, in your opinion, the main value of ICISA for its members? ICISA is an international organization for (re)insurance companies in the Credit and Surety industry – and to be more precise – the only international one for private corporates. This enables ICISA members to do networking across borders, markets, lines of business and even hierarchy levels. With the very high percentage of the market represented within it, ICISA membership grants an excellent access to the “behind the scenes” of the Trade Credit and Surety world within a strong ethical framework, which respects and maintains the competitive nature of our industry. This includes a whole network of expertise, solution providers, knowledge platforms, access to databases etc.

“With the very high percentage of the market represented within it, ICISA membership grants an excellent access to the “behind the scenes” of the Trade Credit and Surety world.”

Richard Wulff, our Executive Director has named the “Pillars of Action” for the next two years very clearly: Advocacy, Public Relations and Cohesion. These topics define the frame for our actions, projects and initiatives. In particular, my first priority is to get the personal networking opportunity back. We are happy that the autumn meeting in Seville is taking place at the end of October. Richard in his first months as Executive Director invested a large amount of his time to call members and asked what ICISA could do for them. During the summer, together with Richard, we went to Zurich to speak to some of our members in person. A nice opportunity to “reconnect” with members and a big success in respect of honest feedback from them. We still have some other destinations on the list but unfortunately, the pandemic still interferes with our plans. At the same time, and this is the second priority, I want ICISA to become more sustainable. This is a challenge for the entire industry and ICISA should lead the way as a ‘good example’. ICISA itself wants to use resources in a responsibly way. We also try to implement processes for our members, which give them the ability to act in a sustainable way regarding all ICISA matters. The new meeting format (that will reduce travels abroad) and a mandatory sustainability concept from our meeting hosts are only two examples of this initiative. The third priority is to (re)connect with other organizations in our industry. ICISA had good relations with e.g. PASA (Pan American Surety Association), SFAA (Surety and Fidelity Association of America) and many other. While in some instances, connections have grown due to shared lobbying activities; in others the pandemic has unfortunately reduced interaction, communication and cooperation. We need to address this, and to continue exchanging knowledge about markets and individual projects to learn from each other and to avoid redundancies within our organizations.

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October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Interview

>>> You are taking over from Patrice during a time of change – most of our members highlighted that ICISA membership is valuable mostly for the various types of meetings it organizes. Looking at what we’ve learnt from the current pandemic, the future will probably be different – with meetings that might take place online etc. How do you see ICISA and its events post Covid19? As mentioned above, the ICISA Week is the core of the future meeting concept. During an entire week, members will attend both committee meetings and the Annual General Meeting. It’s a more sustainable way of meeting, reducing travel and cutting CO2 emissions, as well as ensuring members gain the most value possible from attending in person. With the new structure, the meetings will be more efficient as the same delegate could cover everything. Nevertheless, everyone who wants to join is still welcome, of course. We hope that companies can better manage the tradeoff between their willingness to use networking opportunities and corporate travel policies. Although we meet physically once a year, there is always an option for virtual alternatives. If a personal meeting cannot take place or people are not able to attend, we will switch to a short-video format. I.e., for the committee meetings we plan to have the committee chairs together “on stage” to present their core activities. Interactive parts like discussions with the dialed-in members and/or Q&A sessions will follow. We will not provide the recorded meeting in its full length on our website. This might be too long and would not get the attention it deserves. The new ICISA Office in Amsterdam has great facilities for meeting the Secretariat, or to be used as an “external lounge” during a layover at Schiphol Airport. Members are highly recommended to visit the new office of ICISA. Moreover, the new office can also be booked for working groups or committee meetings.

You are known for being tech-minded. Is this a topic that you would like to see ICISA pay more attention to? If so, in which areas? During our trip to Zurich, we listened to our members carefully and we often heard the term “platform”. This gave us the idea that ICISA should become a center for industry linked information, methodology and technology, a meeting |

hub as well as open place for collaboration and a think tank. All this needs technological support of course. This year we made the first necessary but basic steps towards a state of the art video conferencing and collaboration tool, new hardware, customized software-packages and a modern work environment for the Secretariat. For next year, we have allocated a large budget to a new website. It should have incorporated many collaboration features for an easy interaction between members. Finally, a powerful search engine will help users to find easily the information they look for – no matter which device they use.

“ICISA should become a center for industry linked information, methodology and technology, a meeting hub as well as open place for collaboration and a think tank.” We also must watch which media-platforms are, or could become part of, our toolkit for promoting Trade Credit and Surety products. The intensity of usage changes quickly among social media platforms. It is important to approach the right target groups by using the right key words in post if you want to get relevant a number of hits for penetrating the information. Both of the above are also important for sharing knowledge e.g. to attract new members via explanatory videos and educate young talents via digital tutorials etc. The third big thing is data. I think there are few industries like ours, which have such a huge amount of data, but which are often unstructured and therefore unused . The biggest issues are the missing standards. There is no standard for wordings, for reporting, for accumulation, nor identification of risk. This does not mean we need standards for every single of the mentioned categories, but maybe for some. The complexity increases, which leads to uncertainty. Of course, ICISA cannot solve by itself the lack of process time along with missing standardizations as well as the resulting dilemma of uncertainty vs. complexity. This needs an industry-wide approach. However, especially the smaller and mid-size members cannot raise the large amount of resources to develop their own state-of-the-art systems. So, in an ideal world, perhaps there is a role for ICISA in helping to achieve this. This brings me back to ICISA’s core competence: my hope is that the ICISA network is large enough to bring the right people together who can approach the above-mentioned current and future challenges and develop the right solutions for them.

The ICISA INSIDER The ICISA INSIDER| October | October2021 2021

A Guide to Trade Credit Insurance By the International Credit Insurance & Surety Association A practical and accessible industry-wide reference on Trade Credit Insurance, written by a team of industry experts.

This compact volume is a practical guide for anyone interested in Trade Credit Insurance. The International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) presents an approachable but detailed guide written collaboratively by carefully selected industry experts. The guide describes the ‘lifeline’ of the credit insurance product, from the initial application stage to the expiration phase of the policy, including practical use aspects for credit managers. The volume offers compact information on the history of trade, the need for protection against trade credit risks, and solutions offered by credit insurance providers. The focus is on short term credit, including whole turnover policies and single risk policies.

Readership Suitable for anyone interested in Trade Credit Insurance, from credit managers to policymakers.

Key selling points • • • •

Collaboration of a diverse group of experts from top organisations around the world Written in an approachable style, accessible to the non-specialist Includes extended glossary of key terminology Includes a list of relevant resources for further reading

Content Foreword; Introduction; Disclaimer; 1.What is trade?; 2. What is trade credit insurance?; 3. Product types; 4. Risk types; 5. Typical set-up of a trade credit insurance contract; 6. Premium, the price for cover; 7. Day-to-day policy management; 8. Buyer risk underwriting in trade credit insurance; 9. Debt collection; 10. Imminent loss and indemnification; 11. Renewal, expiry, termination of a policy; 12. Single risk business; 13. The single risk insurance market: Private and public players; 14. Reinsurance of Trade Credit Insurance; Trade Credit Insurance resources; Glossary of trade credit terminology

About the Author(s) / Editor(s) The International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) brings together the world’s leading companies providing trade credit insurance and surety bonds. ICISA promotes technical excellence, industry innovation and product integrity, as well as addressing business challenges generated by new legislation.

Where to order my copy? The book can be ordered from Barnes&Noble and Bol.com.

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October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Insights

ESG Integration into insurance business By Raluca Ezaru, External Relations & Information Officer, ICISA How can we meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs? This is the question people living today need to answer. A question that previous generations have largely ignored, but which no longer waits for us. With all seemingly undisputable truth of climate change issues, overconsumption, demographic change or degradation of the environment, can we still look ahead for a bright, sustainable future? Will our generation make a change in the way we are currently living and really contribute to a more sustainable world? Can we reduce our impact on the world and ensure that the future generations will receive in their hands a world that can still sustain them in the long term? We should probably each of us question ourselves on this matter, but more important, companies around the world should also consider the question of “how sustainable are

we?”. A more specific and measurable way to answer this question is to look at how ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) principles are integrated within businesses. Reinsurers have highlighted the potential impacts of climate change for longer than many other industries, particularly given its impact on natural catastrophe frequency and impact. Still, the topic of sustainable development became more visible among financial sector and insurers since 2012, when the UN launched the “Principles for Sustainable Insurance”.

“We will embed in our decision-making environmental, social and governance issues relevant to our insurance business”.

Insights

ESG regulation has largely avoided issues related directly to risk management and focused more on governance and reporting, however, the first principle within the UN principles states that “We will embed in our decision-making environmental, social and governance issues relevant to our insurance business”. In the beginning of 2021, ICISA questioned its members on the topic of ESG. We feel that in the recent months, the interest on this topic increased and that insurance companies look with more attention at it. In the past weeks, I’ve talked with several ICISA members from across the Credit Insurance and Surety sectors and tried to gain a better understanding of this topic for myself. Besides the growing, but still foggy, emphasis from regulators on sustainability, the evolution of how ESG is integrated into insurance business shows promise. A study conducted in 2018 by UN Environment’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance found that a vast majority of surety bond underwriters consider 12 out of the 15 ESG risks surveyed when evaluating infrastructure projects. Some of the ESG risks questioned were: pollution, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions (E), human rights, working

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conditions, lack of community security / health (S), corruption, unethical practices (G) and more.

A vast majority of surety bond underwriters consider 12 out of the 15 ESG risks surveyed when evaluating infrastructure projects. All of those I spoke to lately said their companies have particular teams dedicated to looking at ESG in their company. Most of the time, the people overseeing ESG activities are integrated within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) functions, or a specific department that focuses on sustainability. For instance, the sustainability department of Zurich has about 80 people, while Liberty Mutual has appointed a Chief Sustainability Officer who reports directly to the CEO.

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October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Insights

Environmental risk assessment in underwriting policies Insurers will likely have focused predominantly on the Environmental element when considering ESG in their business. Perhaps this is also the most due to it being the most easily quantifiable within the ESG acronym. Recent developments in the regulatory agenda have driven this focus, but this has also coincided with more obvious and personal experiences of the effects of climate change, such as record temperatures all around the world, more widespread wildfires on multiple continents, more frequent and severe weather events and many more beyond these. These matters together make this topic unavoidable. Insurers have also recognized for a long time that such events were becoming more frequent and having direct and indirect impacts on a wide range of risks. That insurers will have to face increased claims stemming from such events and the impact on their bottom line has also been a jolt to act. Insurers then have a clear role to play in the transition to a low carbon economy. This will play out on both sides of the balance sheet with changes in underwriting practices on the one side, and greater emphasis on green assets on the other. As with everything in the battle against climate change, the transition to greener ways of working and operating must occur faster and more efficiently.

Assessment of climate risk in underwriting There is for sure a challenge in insurance about how the climate risks are assessed, priced and modelled. Looking at the insurance sector more widely, there has been a growing movement to exclude from their underwriting certain types of business that harm the environment. In an analysis within ICISA, members were asked earlier this year if there are any particular risks excluded from their underwriting and about 90% of respondents said that they currently or will in the future exclude certain risks related to coal-fired energy production. Examples of best practice across the sector are also emerging. For example, Euler Hermes has put in place a pioneering initiative to include environmental sustainability within their risks assessments of different countries. Within the indicators utilized, those aimed at assessing environmental sustainability include: energy use per GDP, renewable electricity output, water stress, recycling rate and climate change vulnerability. In the case of Munich Re an Environmental Risk Department has been set up to look at all the projects that might affect the environment. Similar initiatives are seen across reinsurers, but primary insurers too are taking note of such efforts.

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Insights

Higher investments for sustainable projects If we take a look at the asset side, the proportion of insurers’ investments that are green continues to grow. According to Insurance Europe, about EUR150 billion was allocated by European insurers to green investments in 2020. Insurers are learning that as institutional investors, they can exert significant influence to demand greater transparency and sustainability from within their underlying assets. The governmental investment programs would open extra revenues for insurance companies. Programs like Green Deal in Europe and Green New Deal in US are increasing, providing new business opportunities to sureties and credit insurance companies to write new business.

About EUR150 billion was allocated by European insurers to green investments in 2020. As regulators and policymakers broaden the admissibility of greener assets within capital models, their uptake will continue to grow and the role of insurers in driving change will also grow. These efforts will also be important to ensure that “greenwashing” is not an issue for insurers. It is important that insurers don’t simply rely on their green assets to balance out their brown liabilities. For insurers to influence the debates around economic transition, as well as to help address growing climate-related risks, insurers,

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including credit insurers and sureties, will need to be more sustainable through both their underwriting and their investment practices.

Conclusion There is definitely a sense of responsibility within financial sector towards ESG. Insurers are acknowledging that they can do something actively to respond to the threats ESG programmes seek to address. It is also important that such programmes are not simply “special projects” on the side that don’t quite fit into any one business unit, but rather that ESG is quickly integrated into every aspect of how insurers do business. In some quarters, there is doubt on the existence of man-made climate change and/or whether our industry can or should play a role in this field. Having said that, regulators and policymakers have recently weighed in on this topic, saying that sustainability is to become one of the criteria to base capitalization on. The recent speech of the new chairman of EIOPA serves as a striking example. During interviews conducted with ICISA members, I’ve noticed that our members would appreciate the support coming from associations like ourselves to open the dialog. We are proud to take on that role and to support our members in their efforts to make the world a better place. After all, insurance is about putting bad situations right. And there’s not time like now to do that. 15

October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Interview

Focusing on the future Interview with Benoît des Cressonnières During the last Annual General meeting of ICISA, the ICISA membership elected their new Vice-President of the association. Benoît des Cressonnières (Euler Hermes) was elected Vice-President of ICISA. In the upcoming months, he will work closely with the President on all ICISA activities. Benoît has served on ICISA’s management committee for the last decade and, as such, is intimately familiar with ICISA. We’ve asked Benoît about his plans and priorities for the next months. In the upcoming pages you can read his answers to these questions.

What was your reaction when nominated as VicePresident of ICISA and what made you want to accept this nomination? I was very happy when I was appointed Vice-President of ICISA, to become a member of a “new” team together with Kay Scholz (President) and Richard Wulff, our new Executive Director. This team has a clear target to move ICISA forward in setting up a new guidance, transforming the Association to better serve its members, being at the heart of their concerns as well as a trustful partner to support and promote the Trade Credit Insurance and Surety to the benefit of all members worldwide. This will be a long and challenging journey especially in a permanently changing and volatile environment. But Trade Credit Insurance and Surety are extremely efficient tools to secure global trade and projects in the global world. I am passionate about these specialized insurance products and would like to contribute in bringing my almost 25 years’ prctical experience and helping ICISA to focus on the core topics of the industry.

Euler Hermes is one of the biggest members of ICISA. How do you think both Euler Hermes and ICISA will benefit from this?

insurance products, and to the best interests of its members lobbying the most relevant stakeholders for our industry that are the Regulators, rating agencies, Finance and Trade Ministries and, more specifically in Europe, the European Commission as well as EIOPA whenever needed. As a member of the Allianz Group, Euler Hermes has developed a tremendous network across the Globe which could benefit ICISA to get relevant introductions when required.

The competitive landscape has changed drastically in the last decades. What do you see as ICISA’s role in this landscape? It is true that the competitive landscape has changed and moved from local to global players. However, there are still a lot of specialized and valuable local players which also deserve the attention and support from ICISA. The Association should become an incubator of ideas, a platform where experts can meet, find relevant information to develop the business fitting the customers’ needs. In a world where data became the key resource, ICISA needs to be a reliable data collector and provider as well as a “door opener” when it comes to more specific queries from members.

What should be, in your opinion, ICISA’s priorities? Being the largest member does not give you any right to be arrogant but only the duty to bring added-value to the Association through your broad experience and footprint. Euler Hermes has to be a model for the industry, always acting fairly and with a lot of respect for all members. Fair competition is one of the basic rules to grow a business. And ICISA has a key role in promoting our specific |

There are 2 sets of priorities, one focused on the transformation of ICISA itself, its processes, its staff to become a “State of the Art”, modern Association of experts able to deliver the services the members need, a real value for the fees they spend.

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Interview

The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

The other area to focus on is the contents and services ICISA has to develop to support the members more efficiently. As already highlighted, data is today a key resource, a raw material, and, let’s be honest, today ICISA is not able to deliver comprehensive, useful and reliable data to its members and more generally to the industry. An Association could only be credible and trustful when it brings real, tangible added-value. Therefore the team should first meet each member to define which are the expectations and accordingly build up a roadmap and action plan to transform and modernize the Association in a reasonable timeframe using the resources in the optimal way.

What is your favorite memory when it comes to ICISA? The first one coming to my mind is the “LGD” study. We started to discuss this project at the beginning of the 2000s as we considered it critical to give evidence to the regulators, rating agencies and business partners demonstrating how efficient risk underwriting is in Trade Credit Insurance, its ability to manage the risk and the recoveries, which is unique in the insurance landscape. We were only very few and needed to externalize the data collection and statistical computation to make the study relevant, useful and ensure the anonymity of the data provided. The study started with the university of Zurich (ETH) and ICISA quickly stepped in to coordinate the work and convince its members Trade Credit Insurance members to participate and send their own data to grow the database and increase the study’s relevance and reliability. It was a long journey and there are still improvements needed in the process but globally the project is an useful achievement for the industry.

One of the stated goals of ICISA is to promote best practice in the industry. As how important do you see this goal when it comes to young people in our industry? One of the targets of ICISA is, indeed, to set-up Technical Committees on core topics, organize meetings and build up a platform where members have the ability to exchange best practices applied in the market. If you remember one of the most visible outcome of these “best practices” is the ICISA’s definition of a “Financial Guarantee” still used as a reference in our industry. During the meetings of the various Technical Committees held within ICISA, experiences on market trends and developments, changing legal environments are shared and debated in order to understand and see how these will affect our business. Accordingly, the industry will propose adequate answers, products’ evolutions and ICISA prepare efficient strategies to educate countries regulators, rating agencies and other stakeholders of our ecosystem.

It is highly appreciated to see younger people or new “joiners” of the members attending these meetings where they can learn a lot about the industry and its best practices. They are the future leaders of the member companies and through the Association they have the opportunity to enlarge their network but also to bring new ideas thinking out of the box and help to make our industry stronger, efficient, resilient to continue being a key support to the on-going development of the Worldwide Trade. And alongside STECIS, ICISA promotes academic trainings where young people have the opportunity to develop their skills in Trade Credit Insurance and Surety.

Euler Hermes, a part of Allianz, has become one of the insurance industry’s champions of sustainability. In your opinion, what role should ICISA play in this topic? It is time for the Financial services industry to drive the concept of ESG (Environmental Social & Governance) to respond to unexpected challenges effectively and place the economy at the service of our planet. The ESG should be integrated in the DNA of all the companies which need to facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy and develop the next generation of companies and business environment. ICISA as an Association has a role to play in encouraging all its members to join for this challenging but fascinating and urgent journey. ICISA as a business partner has its own responsibility to play an active role in meeting stakeholders’ sustainable expectations. And it goes beyond in encouraging, communicating and lobbying about best practices in equality and diversity, environmental protection as well as development of sustainable Green Insurance products.

October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Insights

The sharpest tool in the box? – Examining state support in the pandemic and preparing for the future By Daniel de Búrca, ICISA

The pandemic has demonstrated that a wide toolkit of measures is available to governments in the midst of a crisis. Given the nature of the pandemic and the early uncertainty about how it would affect the real economy, it is understandable that a broad approach was required. Businesses were able to access a range of direct grants and loans, as well as furlough schemes, tax deferrals, and in some instances, deferrals of insolvency itself. Of course, this sort of belts and braces approach was not seen everywhere around the world with many countries struggling to respond quickly to Covid-19. However, there are indications that the weight of government interventions overall had some positive effects in other economies too. By putting money directly into the hands of businesses in one country, demand was maintained to some extent, including in cross-border trade. This may have resulted in somewhat of a dampening effect in other countries too, or at least provided an important source of income when local markets were struggling. Recovery will be difficult for many countries,

with related effects on supply chains and possible volatility in commodity markets an emerging risk. From a credit insurance perspective, specific measures were put in place early in the pandemic in several markets, including Germany, France and Spain within the EU, and Canada and the UK outside. These state-backed reinsurance arrangements sought to absorb the risk of increasing credit insurance claims as liquidity and non-payment risk in different sectors were expected to deteriorate. This was done in return for a portion of premium from private insurers, as well as their commitment to avoid cutting limits as a means of reducing exposure. In this sense, the credit insurance schemes provided a short-term psychological boost to the sector. At ICISA, we recently took a look at what would have happened without these schemes. In a comparison between markets where schemes existed and those where they did not, it is clear that wider support measures had similar

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effects in each. Reductions in insolvencies and lower claims volumes were common across many markets as a result. Elsewhere, it is also clear that some businesses took the opportunity to wind-down in an orderly fashion during the pandemic, without impairment to debtors. So, even thought the psychological benefit of credit insurance schemes was valued, the stability brought to the economy through wider state support likely had a greater effect over time, including in credit insurance markets. The overall picture in many advanced credit insurance markets is one where insolvencies and resulting claims arising from defaults have remained low throughout the pandemic as a result of state intervention. But the same trend in insolvencies is seen in markets with credit insurance schemes as in those without. Indications from market participants during 2020 and early 2021 show that insurers’ appetite and capacity for providing cover recovered throughout the year and was at or near pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year. When we looked at conditions in different markets during 2020 and beyond, we can see that while cuts to limits were

| The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

sharper in markets without credit insurance schemes, this was likely softened by protections given to the real economy. For example, while 2020 was the worst year for insolvencies in the US since 2010, insolvency rates declined monthby-month from July to the end of the year, and overall, insolvencies were down by an estimated 5% on 2019 levels, according to research by Atradius. Of course, there are different dynamics in each market and a crisis such as Covid-19 will impact each economy differently. Those with a heavy focus on tourism and hospitality will have suffered worse than others due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. From a credit insurance perspective too, how mature and competitive a market is, whether limits are cancellable or not, and other factors will also be influential in what actions credit insurers would have taken with our without state reinsurance arrangements. However, the overall trend of capacity and appetite returning in either scenario suggests that wider state support measures would have given insurers sufficient comfort for reductions in cover to have been less sharp than in other crises.

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October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

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Within the EU, government interventions were delivered under a temporary framework introduced to allow for greater flexibility in state aid rules. Credit insurance schemes formed part of this framework. Most of these closed at the end of June 2021 without further renewal as markets were capable of returning to a more normal footing. Indeed, a proposal for a new scheme at that time in a market that had not brought one in earlier was ultimately rejected as unnecessary on the basis of the readiness of the local industry there. In a related move, the EU’s competition arm, DG COMP, also introduced a temporary decision on removing all countries from the list of “marketable risk” countries. This decision was taken on the assumption that there was no private market available for short term cover for certain export-credit risks and therefore open to public bodies to provide cover. The decision was initially time-limited until 31 December 2020, but was subsequently extended until mid-2021 and later to the end of 2021.

It seems unlikely that there was no private market available in “marketable risk” countries to warrant continued extensions of this decision, particularly as greater stability came to markets through the effects of wider state support. DG COMP is at the time of writing considering whether to extend this decision further. ICISA has pointed out that the ending of credit insurance schemes at the end of June 2021 and feedback from our members on market conditions, suggest allowing markets to return to a normal footing would be far more beneficial at this time. The experience of these different measures – both those directly related to credit insurance and those focused on supporting the real economy – shows that governments have a range of tools available to them in a crisis. However, this experience has also shown us that there are limitations and drawbacks to their use. The blanket approach adopted by many governments clearly kept businesses afloat at a time of great uncertainty, but the extent to which it preserved “zombie businesses” remains unclear. Similarly, looking at

Insights

the ESRB’s estimates of what portion of EU state support has ultimately been utilised, it seems likely that a more targeted approach could have the same effect on limiting negative effects in the real economy. We also saw that credit insurance schemes can have a significant positive effect early on by allowing insurers to maintain their positions. However, their interaction with wider state support measures aimed at limiting insolvencies means they can lose their benefit over time. Similarly, continued extension of time-limited measures (such as the decision on marketable risks) can lead to unnecessary distortions in private/public competition, or in other ways prevent markets from resuming normal functioning as quickly as possible.

| The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

Looking to future crises, we have learned that government interventions can keep many businesses viable during an extended crisis. However, we have also learned that targeted approaches could have the same effect as broader blanket approaches. Which approach is best will depend on the quality of information available to governments. Similarly, reinforcing the use of time-limits on different measures may provide greater clarity to those involved or benefiting from them. A cautious bias towards ending such measures on the specified date unless circumstances dictate otherwise may be preferable to continuous extensions. This is particularly true where market conditions indicate a return to normality is both beneficial and warranted.

What steps governments take next will be crucial for how the recovery looks. As state support to the real economy ends, we may see an uptick in insolvencies as a result. However, while economies need to resume normal functioning to fully recover, “soft-landings” may be beneficial in some areas and a cautious and coordinated approach will be needed.

October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Interview

ICISA Welcomes its newest member: GreenStars ICISA members warmly welcomed GreenStars as a new member to the association. Paul Wollny, Chief Executive Officer at GreenStars, kindly agreed to discuss about his company and the reasons behind joining ICISA.

Member Profile GreenStars is a credit insurance company with a focus on single risk credit insurance for banks. The company is indirectly owned by BNP Paribas S.A., Paris, the largest bank in Europe and the world’s seventh largest bank by total assets. The motivation for the creation of GreenStars was to facilitate, as a specialised insurer, a broader and more strategic interaction between the banking and the credit insurance industry. In addition to its own track record the company benefits from 20 years of experience of credit risk distribution of its ultimate parent company. Also with the support from the reinsurance market, GreenStars established an independent underwriting of credit risks. Policies are issued in more than 20 different jurisdictions covering risks around the globe. As a result, GreenStars has a welldiversified portfolio in terms of regions, industries and types of credit risk.

Motivation and expectations Asked about their motivation to become ICISA members, Paul mentioned the chance given by ICISA “to better understand opportunities and challenges for the industry”, as well as the chance “to learn and contribute based on our deep understanding of the banking industry which as well is risk taker for credit”.

between banks and credit insurers works increasingly well for all parties involved. However, there is still room for improvement concerning the better understanding of the other. That’s where we want to contribute and exchange with our peers.”

The collaboration between banks and credit insurers works increasingly well for all parties involved. When it comes to expectations, Paul highlighted the role ICISA has as a platform for dialog between industry However, there is still room for improvement companies: “GreenStars has an excellent knowledge about concerning the better understanding of the other. banking products. That’s an experience GreenStars can share with the credit insurance market. On the other hand, I want to ensure that GreenStars continues to understand best practices and experiences from the credit & surety (re) insurance market. In other words, we want to facilitate for the members of ICISA the exchange between insurance and the banking world without having to spend years or decades in credit departments of the other industry. The collaboration |

One of the main topics that Paul wants to be discussed withing ICISA is the Single Credit Risk Insurance and understanding of the roots from where the single credit risk insurance started: “As a member of ICISA we want to deepen our understanding of the development of and reasons for general market standards as they do exist today. As a subsidiary of a bank, we are very familiar with the banking approach to credit risk management.

Interview

In this growing and evolving market, we certainly can contribute to a better understanding of the underlying drivers and their impact on credit insurers who want to participate in these risks in a collaboration with banks. A hot topic in this respect are certainly developments in the regulatory environment of insurers, reinsurers and banks. For example, exclusions which are standard in whole turnover credit insurance policies are challenged by banks for the single credit risk market. We can definitely contribute to the discussion about the reasons for different approaches and their impact on banks and insurers.” A second topic shared by Paul as being interesting for GreenStars is the question why single risk credit insurers of single risks pay insurance premium tax in some jurisdictions when accepting the same credit risks as banks do who are sometimes more sophisticated in their statistical analysis of credit risks than some credit insurers. Furthermore, Paul suggests sharing best accounting practice especially in the light of the introduction of IFRS 9 and IFRS 17.

As a subsidiary of a banking group with only a few insurance subsidiaries it is key for us to ensure alignment with our peers in terms of general understanding.”

| The ICISA INSIDER | October 2021

Paul also hopes that the current ICISA members can learn from GreenStars. As he says, “more and more insurers are entering into the niche, in which we are active. Some of them are extremely sophisticated while others are still learning. ” He believes that ICISA will benefit from a member coming from a banking perspective, increasing the knowledge between partners: “I think GreenStars is in an excellent position to facilitate and enhance a better mutual understanding between insurers and insureds based on our experience in this market segment. As a subsidiary of a banking group with only a few insurance subsidiaries, it is key for us to ensure alignment with our peers in terms of general understanding.”

Membership of ICISA committees Paul likes the idea that in the long run, GreenStars will be active in all ICISA committees, but highlights also the limited resources the company has: “GreenStars is a very small team. With our limited resources, we unfortunately will have to make a choice on which committees we are focusing first on”. While it is still to be decided which committees GreenStars will participate in, for Paul it is clear that “ICISA to me seems to be the best forum to discuss topics which go beyond the day-to-day negotiation of terms and conditions between insureds, insurers and reinsurers. As a member of ICISA, we hope that we can contribute to a profitable and therefore sustainable portfolio diversification and value.”

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October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

Insights

Human versus the Machine By Michael Holley, Prof. Schumann GmbH According to news reports, the series of events which led to the Greensill collapse was initiated by discovery within a credit insurer that an underwriter in a distant subsidiary had exceeded his or her authority. This illustrates an ongoing issue for us all – how can we be sure that the judgement of our human underwriters is sound at all times, and how can we ensure that all parts of a geographically diverse organisation remain in step with each other? Can the new technology, including AI and machine learning help? One of the best selling books of recent years is ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Israeli psychologist, Daniel Kahneman. In this rather alarming book, Kahneman shows how hopelessly unreliable human judgement is. After reading it I felt like throwing my brain in the waste bin. You may have seen some statistics yourself, such as the expert judges that are much more likely to give out ‘guilty’ sentences when they are hungry or tired. Those of us who have been underwriting for a while must admit that we too, have occasionally fallen victim to unsound judgements after getting too friendly with a buyer or insured over some nice lunches and bottles of wine! While we can set processes to mitigate against these risks, it would be nice

if we could harness technology to help correct the human weaknesses. The advantage of technology and AI is that the machine is not burdened by the ancient evolutionary flaws of the human brain. The machine is cold and calculating the numbers are the numbers and the machine will always tell the truth. On the other hand, machines and algorithms can be incredibly stupid. A Tesla on auto pilot will occasionally miss something which would be blindingly obvious to a human driver, crashing straight into a tree or some other obstacle. Similarly our credit risk models occasionally come up with an answer which an experienced underwriter can immediately see is utterly stupid. The reason for this is that all risk models are imperfect reflections of reality. The amount of information and contextual factors that the human brain can take into account are almost infinite, whereas the machine has traditionally been limited to much more restricted data sets. The human brain has incredible flexibility to look at a problem from many angles. The financial information which we feed into our models is always out of date, whereas the human can visit a buyer and collect up to date information.

Insights

TheICISA ICISAINSIDER INSIDER | |October October2021 2021 | The

Still, many people believe that Tesla will be able to keep improving automated driving, until the point is reached where the machine drives more safely than any human. It is a question of more data, more machine learning, improved algorithms, and the goal should then be within reach. In the world of credit insurance, the models are also improving, and more data is becoming available too. These days, the companies we are assessing leave a much richer data trail than just the published financial statements. The written company reports, their twitter feeds and Linkedin announcements all contain language which AI can analyse and correlate to risk. Staff of each company leave a juicy and revealing data trail on Linkedin and Glassdoor. Even the Facebook and Instagram accounts of directors produce information which reflects the corporate governance of their companies, and which can be correlated to default probability. Another advantage of AI compared to humans is that it is able to see correlations that the human brain is not capable of identifying. We are living in a world where the quantity of data available is much larger than anything encountered by human or animal brains during our evolution. It is not surprising then then that AI can outperform. This will introduce a new challenge for us – it is sometimes hard for a human to understand decisions made by AI. Already we sometimes struggle to explain negative credit decisions to disappointed customers. This challenge may become greater in the future, as ‘computer says no’ is not an acceptable response. To extract this data automatically, to train AI to interpret it, and to improve our risk models accordingly will take enormous effort. Unfortunately, more resource is available to companies like Tesla than to credit insurers. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the credit insurance industry must progress in this direction. Our vision must be to obtain much more data for each risk assessment - data which will be more up to date than the company accounts - and to feed this data into much more intelligent technological models. The resulting risk decisions will be free of the bias that always arises in human judgement. The decisions will be instantly shared by sophisticated IT across the entire company, reaching the most remote outpost right away. We have some way to go, but the direction of travel is clear. As an industry we must focus our efforts on the technology which will make flawed and biased human judgements a thing of the past. Technology rather than large teams of human risk underwriters, is the way forward! 25 25

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October 2021 2021 || The The ICISA ICISA INSIDER INSIDER October

Announcements

ANNOUNCEMENTS Changes in the Surety Team of Travelers Two new people joined the Surety team of Travelers: Rebecca Yuditsky joined as an Underwriter on March 1st 2021. Rebecca, originally a surety underwriter from the US, moved to the UK in December 2020. She will support the existing team, and growing client base across Europe. Steve Manwaring (ex-QBE) has agreed to join the team as Surety Director from the 25th October 2021. Steve will be responsible for growing Travelers presence in the UK SME market.

Steve Manwaring Surety Director

Rebecca Yuditsky Underwriter

ICIC - Appointments of new CFO and Projects and Medium-Term Transactions Manager Mrs. Anat Aharon (MBA) was appointed Projects and Medium-Term Transactions manager. Over the last decade, Anat held a number of positions in the company’s underwriting division, the most recent of which was Head of Large risk underwriting, Chief export underwriter and member of the Underwriting division management team. Mrs. Reut Israeli (CPA.)(ADV.) was appointed CFO on June 2021. Previously, Reut worked in Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services LTD, as the Group’s Financial Controller. Reut has LL.B. from Tel-Aviv University and a diploma in Accounting. ICIC is pleased to announce that Moody’s has upgraded the Insurance Financial Strength Rating (IFSR) of ICIC to A2 from A3, with a stable outlook.

Anat Aharon Projects and MediumTerm Transactions Manager

Reut Israeli CFO

Announcements

| The TheICISA ICISAINSIDER INSIDER | | October October2021 2021

Coface SA strengthens further its leadership team Coface announced the following appointments within its executive committee: Antonio Marchitelli, currently CEO of Coface Western Europe Region, is appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Global Specialties, effective January 2022. In this newly created role, Antonio will drive Coface’s growth strategy in three key specialty product lines, i.e. Single Risk, Bonding and Debt Collection. He will design and roll out a global roadmap to accelerate growth and build Coface’s operational capability to develop these product lines. Carine Pichon, currently chief financial and risks officer, will replace Antonio as CEO of Coface Western Europe Region. Carine has been running finance and risks globally since 2011. Her appointment recognizes her long-standing contribution to Coface’s transformation and in particular to the Fit to Win and Build to Lead strategic plans as well as Coface’s IPO. Phalla Gervais will replace Carine in her role of CFO, in charge of finance and risks. Phalla comes from Aviva, where she was CFO and Deputy CEO of Aviva France. She has a long track record of finance transformation. Her expertise, combined with robust leadership skills, will be important assets to Coface and the finance function. Phalla will join Coface on September 6, 2021 and will be a member of the group management board. From now on and for the next two months, Carine and Phalla will work together to ensure a smooth transition. Lastly, after several months as acting in this role, Coface is happy to confirm Jaroslaw Jaworski in the role of Chief Executive Officer of Coface Central and Eastern Europe Region, effective today. Jaroslaw was previously Poland Country manager since 2012. He successfully positioned Coface as a leading player in this important market. Antonio, Carine, Phalla and Jaroslaw will report to Xavier Durand and will be part of the executive committee.

“These appointments further strengthen Coface’s leadership team. They demonstrate that the organization is able to grow talents with diverse career paths and to attract external leaders with strong track records. The diversity of these profiles is a key asset for Coface to deliver significant achievements in the roll out of our strategic plan Build to Lead.”

‒ Xavier Durand, Coface CEO

October October 2021 2021 || The ICISA INSIDER

Announcements

Several new appointments at Atradius

Marta Nodal Regional Commercial Director

Marta Nodal, previously Commercial Director of Crédito y Caución (CyC), has been appointed Regional Commercial Director for Spain, Portugal and Brazil, reporting directly to the Chief Market Officer of Atradius, Andreas Tesch. She joined Atradius CyC in 1999 as Internal Auditor coming from Ernst & Young. In her 22 years with Atradius CyC, Marta has held various functions in the company, including Reinsurance & International Program / Market Research Manager, Corporate Strategy Manager, and in 2009 she started in her role as Commercial Manager for Spain, Portugal and Brazil. The appointment follows the retirement of Jacinto Iglesias, who is ending his career after more than 46 years with Atradius CyC and a decade at the helm of the business in Spain, Portugal and Brazil.

Gino Watty, Risk Director of Crédito y Caución (CyC) until end of June 2021, has been appointed Director Risk Services, covering Spain & Portugal. In Gino’s 23 year career at Atradius CyC, he has specialised in Risk functions in various positions evolving from Risk Analyst to Large Risk Manager and ultimately, in 2012 to his most recent role as Risk Manager for Spain & Portugal. Gino will report to the Chief Risk Officer of Atradius N.V., Christian van Lint. Gino Watty Risk Director of CyC On 1st September 2021, Dirk Hagener took over responsibility for the Atradius’ central Group Communications & Commercial Development function. Dirk has a background as a strategy consultant and e-commerce specialist. He started his career in Atradius Germany in 2002 and worked in several commercial support functions reporting to the Regional Director of Central and Eastern Europe. In 2007 he moved to the headquarters in Amsterdam to take over the Head of Programme Management role and in 2010 the Head of Corporate Strategy role. In 2012, Dirk was appointed Director Strategy and Corporate Development. In his new role, Dirk will report to Andreas Tesch, the Chief Market Officer of Atradius N.V. Dirk Hagener Group Communications & Commercial Development Frederik Devooght has been appointed as the new Country Manager for Belgium & Luxembourg. Frederik joined Atradius in 2007. In Atradius Frederik gained experience as a credit analyst and in project management. Frederik successively took positions in sales and account management at Atradius. For the last four years, Frederik was Head of Commercial Management for Atradius in Belgium and Luxembourg. Frederik’s predecessor Christophe Cherry was appointed Regional Director for France, Belgium and Luxembourg in April 2021.

Frederik Devooght Country Manager Belgium & Luxembourg |

Announcements

| The TheICISA ICISAINSIDER INSIDER | | October October2021 2021

Stecis - THE leading academy for Trade Credit Insurance and Surety Stecis – THE leading academy for Trade Credit Insurance and Surety, will organize new webinars and courses. Founded in 2006 on demand of the Trade Credit Insurance and Surety industry, Stecis has trained in the past 14 years thousands of professionals, many of them working in the TCI and Surety industry but also for banks, brokers or in credit management departments. STECIS tutors have or had senior positions in the financial industry, allowing them to share a lot of knowledge and experience including real case studies and actual developments. Consequently, our tutors continuously receive average scores above 9 from 10 from the participants. In 2021 Stecis organized masterclasses as additional level next to the traditional foundation and advanced course. The first launched masterclass is about Innovation and Digitalisation in Trade Credit Insurance and Trade Finance. Topics such as digitization, connectivity, big data and technologies (e.g., blockchain) are fuelling innovation in the traditional credit insurance and trade finance industry are addressed during this Masterclass. The next masterclass currently developed will cover non-traditional Trade Credit Insurance products as single buyer or transaction over, XL-Loss or financing support.

NOW AVAILABLE

Catalogue of Credit Insurance Terminology The new German edition of the catalogue is available. It can be downloaded from the ICISA website at www.icisa.org To order a hard copy, please send an email to secretariat@icisa.org

Next to the beforementioned standard courses STECIS offers tailormade inhouse training sessions or webinars for your employees. Please contact Rob Klouth, Chairman of Stecis, via rob.klouth@stecis.org.

Here are the next courses organised by Stecis: Webinars: Fundamentals of Trade Credit Insurance – 26th of October 2021 Innovation and digitalisation in Trade Credit Insurance and Trade Finance – 28th of October 2021 Classroom trainings Trade Credit Insurance Foundation Course: 4 & 5 November 2021 Advanced Trade Credit Insurance Course : 9 & 10 November 2021 Innovation and digitalisation in Trade Credit Insurance and Trade Finance: 11 November 2021 Surety Bonds Foundation Course: 9 & 10 November 2021 Advanced Surety Bonds course : 11 & 12 November 2021 For more details about Stecis’ courses visit the website www.stecis.org or send an e-mail to info@stecis.org. 29 29

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October October 2021 2021 || The ICISA INSIDER

Announcements

New appointments on Chubb’s Surety team Jamal Griffith was promoted to Head of Surety for Europe. Mr. Griffith, who previously served as Head of Surety for the UK and Ireland, will be responsible for the performance, strategy and profitable growth of Chubb’s surety business in Continental Europe, the UK and Ireland. His surety team is based at Chubb locations in France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and the UK. Jamal, who has 20 years of surety experience and who has been with Chubb since 2010, was previously senior surety underwriter prior to taking over the management of UK and Ireland surety in 2018. In 2019, he earned his MBA with distinction from Cass University. David Garrahan has been promoted to Head of Surety for the UK and Ireland. With 7 years of surety experience, David began with Chubb in Dublin in 2012, moving to London to join the Surety team in 2014 as an Assistant Underwriter. Gaining exposure and experience, he was promoted to Underwriter and most recently held the position of Senior Underwriter since 2019.

Jamal Griffith Head of Surety - Europe

David Garrahan Head of Surety - UK and Ireland

Alexander Riveros Appointed to Senior Underwriter Credit & Surety at AXIS Re Alexander Riveros has joined AXIS Re as Senior Underwriter, Credit & Surety, effective August 23, 2021. Alexander will be responsible for covering the Latin American market and will contribute to driving the business’ portfolio goals for credit & surety as well as fostering strong partnerships with clients and brokers. Alexander joins AXIS Re following over 25 years in the Latin American (re)insurance industry, most recently as a Senior Surety Underwriter at Markel International. Alexander will report directly to Camilo Rodriguez, Head of International Credit & Surety. He will be based in Zurich and can be reached at alexander.riveros@axiscapital.com.

Alexander Riveros Senior Underwriter

Announcements

| The TheICISA ICISAINSIDER INSIDER | | October October2021 2021

New appointments at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions

Marilyn Blattner-Hoyle has been appointed as Global Head Trade Finance in Swiss Re Corporate Solution’s Global Credit & Surety unit effective 18 August 2021. In this leadership role, she will be responsible for the origination and underwriting activities across the Trade Finance portfolio, focusing on the development of growth opportunities, implementation of our business strategy and the digitisation of our offering.

Marilyn Blattner-Hoyle Global Head Trade Finance

Veronica Assandri Foldnes has been appointed as Global Head Commodity Finance in Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ Global Credit & Surety unit effective 1 May 2021. In this leadership role, she will be responsible for the origination and underwriting activities of the newly merged Soft Commodities and Energy & Metals portfolios and for developing and implementing strategic growth plans.

Veronica Assandri Foldnes Global Head Commodity Finance Michael Lum has been appointed as Global Head Political Risk Insurance and Sovereign Credit Risk (“PRI”) in Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ Global Credit & Surety unit effective 1 May 2021. In this leadership role, he will be responsible for the origination and underwriting activities across the PRI portfolio and for developing and implementing the strategic growth plans for the PRI portfolio. In addition to his global responsibilities, Michael will stay in Singapore and also continue to lead Swiss Re Corporate Solution’s APAC Surety business. Marilyn, Veronica and Michael will report to Andreas Hillebrand, Global Head Credit & Surety. Michael Lum Global Head Political Risk

October 2021 | The ICISA INSIDER

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