Operational Risk & Regulation - October issue 2011
The risk management department of the Unipol Group began a project to become compliant with the European Union’s Solvency II Directive – a set of new financial regulations for the insurance industry. This effort was part of a
holistic approach to risk management that
involved all stakeholders throughout the
company: managers of risk, operational risk, compliance, controls law 262/2006 and business processes, along with internal auditors.
With a strong commitment from the board of directors and Internal Control Committee, Unipol Group decided to meet the immediate needs related to Solvency II regulations while creating a broader, enterprise-wide source of process information. Unipol created a unique internal controls framework through the analysis of operational risks and business processes shared by stakeholders, and established a structured and federated approach to risk and control management.
Unipol partnered with MEGA, selecting the MEGA Suite to help define the project methodology, which was chosen to meet the Solvency II requirements related to the implementation of the internal model on operational risk. And, because of the software’s capabilities in both risk management and process analysis, Unipol was able to use a business process approach to help gather and analyse relevant, consolidated information that the board of directors and Internal Control Committee could use to make business decisions.
Unipol Group seeks solution for regulatory and efficiency challenges
Unipol Group is a major financial conglomerate in Italy. With €9 billion in premiums, six million customers, more than 7,000 bank branches and insurance agencies, and 7,400-plus employees, the 40-year-old company is a major force in insurance and banking.
In recent years, the group has quickly diversified and expanded its financial operations through the creation of new entities and acquisitions. This rapid company evolution and transformation prompted a review of internal processes to renew the overall organisation. Shortly after this review began, it was necessary to become Solvency II compliant. The convergence of these efforts convinced Unipol to manage the two projects together, and not consider the regulation requirement just an isolated initiative by the risk department. [...]
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