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Daily Archives: August 15, 2013

Longevity risk transfer markets: market structure, growth drivers and impediments, and potential risks – consultative report

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“The ageing population phenomenon being observed in many countries poses serious social policy challenges. Longevity risk – the risk of paying out on pensions and annuities longer than anticipated – is significant when measured from a financial perspective. Longevity risk transfer markets: market structure, growth drivers and impediments, and potential risks  is a forward-looking report released by the Joint Forum on longevity risk transfer (LRT) markets. It makes the following recommendations to policymakers and supervisors:

  1. Supervisors should communicate and cooperate on LRT internationally and cross-sectorally in order to reduce the potential for regulatory arbitrage.
  2. Supervisors should seek to ensure that holders of longevity risk under their supervision have the appropriate knowledge, skills, expertise and information to manage it.
  3. Policymakers should review their explicit and implicit policies with regards to where longevity risk should reside to inform their policy towards LRT markets. They should also be aware that social policies may have consequences on both longevity risk management practices and the functioning of LRT markets.
  4. Policymakers should review rules and regulations pertaining to the measurement, management and disclosure of longevity risk with the objective of establishing or maintaining appropriately high qualitative and quantitative standards, including provisions and capital requirements for expected and unexpected increases in life expectancy.
  5. Policymakers should consider ensuring that institutions taking on longevity risk, including pension fund sponsors, are able to withstand unexpected, as well as expected, increases in life expectancy.
  6. Policymakers should closely monitor the LRT taking place between corporates, banks, (re)insurers and the financial markets, including the amount and nature of the longevity risk transferred, and the interconnectedness this gives rise to.
  7. Supervisors should take into account that longevity swaps may expose the banking sector to longevity tail risk, possibly leading to risk transfer chain breakdowns.
  8. Policymakers should support and foster the compilation and dissemination of more granular and up-to-date longevity and mortality data that are relevant for the valuations of pension and life insurance liabilities.”

Point of Sale disclosure in the insurance, banking and securities sectors – consultative report

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Point of Sale disclosure in the insurance, banking and securities sectors [August 2013] identifies and assesses differences and gaps in regulatory approaches to point of sale (POS) disclosure for investment and savings products across the insurance, banking and securities sectors. The report considers whether regulatory approaches to POS disclosure need to be further aligned across… Continue Reading

The State of the Birds 2013. Report on Private Lands

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“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell … announced the release of the State of the Birds 2013 Report on Private Lands. A collaborative effort as part of the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative, involving federal and state wildlife agencies and scientific and conservation organizations, the report shows how private land conservation… Continue Reading

Where Teens Seek Online Privacy Advice

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Where Teens Seek Online Privacy Advice – by Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser, Aaron Smith, August 15, 2013 “Many teens ages 12-17 report that they usually figure out how to manage content sharing and privacy settings on their own. Focus group interviews with teens suggest that for their day-to-day privacy management, teens… Continue Reading

Immigration Facts: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

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Immigration Facts: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) By: Audrey Singer and Nicole Prchal Svajlenka “As Congress debates the fate of the “DREAMers”—those undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children—the one-year anniversary of the start of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program occurs on August 15. The DACA program—an initiative… Continue Reading

SIGTARP Audit Treasury’s injection of Troubled Asset Relief Program Funds in GM

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Treasury’s Role in the Decision for GM to Provide Pension Payments to Delphi Employees SIGTARP 13-003 August 15, 2013 “The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (“Treasury”) injection of Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) funds in General Motors Corporation (“GM”) and Chrysler Group LLC (“Chrysler”) was the only bailout with a President’s Designee overseeing the companies’… Continue Reading

Mature Driver Laws

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“More and more Americans are outliving their ability to drive safely. As a result of impairments in three functions that are important for driving – vision, cognition and motor function – older drivers have a higher crash risk than middle aged adults. To address this issue, many states have have enacted laws that contain specific… Continue Reading

CDC state data shows high costs due to excessive alcohol use

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“Excessive alcohol use causes a large economic burden to states and the District of Columbia, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Excessive alcohol use cost states and D.C. a median of $2.9 billion in 2006, ranging from $420 million in North Dakota to $32 billion in California.… Continue Reading