Three Swiss insurers added to G20 watchdog resolution plan list

ZURICH (Reuters) -Zurich Insurance, Swiss Re, and Swiss Life have been added to a list of insurance firms that must develop resolution plans in case of insolvency, the G20's financial watchdog said on Tuesday.

The Financial Stability Board published an updated global list comprising 17 companies, up four from last year. Aside from the three Swiss firms, the FSB added Dutch insurer Athora.

The resolution plans aim to better prepare companies and their regulators for an emergency or collapse.

After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the FSB and policymakers called for the establishment of a resolution regime for insurers similar to that for banks in order to detect and contain a potential financial crisis at an early stage.

The insurance industry resisted, arguing the risk of contagion was far lower for it than for banks.

In 2022, the FSB opted to discontinue its annual identification of global systemically important insurers.

Since 2024, the FSB has instead published a list of insurance companies that must submit resolution plans. Britain has the most insurers on the list with five.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner in Munich and Dave Graham in Zurich, editing by Thomas Seythal)