Consumer Panel Vice Chair elected to European regulator stakeholder role

Financial Services Consumer Panel Vice Chair Kay Blair has been elected Vice Chair of the EIOPA1 Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group.

EIOPA, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, was formed on 1 January as the European Supervisory Authority for insurance and occupational pensions. Kay Blair was elected by her peers and will work alongside the newly elected chair Michaela Koller.

Kay Blair , commented:

"I am delighted that the other members of the stakeholder group have chosen me, as a consumer representative, for this responsible position. This reflects the importance of the consumer agenda to the work of the European Supervisory Authorities.

I look forward to the challenges ahead and to working with the other members of the group to provide input to EIOPA which will ensure a high, effective and consistent level of regulation and supervision. As always, I will focus on helping EIOPA deliver good consumer outcomes."
 

1. Two stakeholder groups work to facilitate EIOPA's consultation with stakeholders in Europe on issues such as regulation and implementing technical standards. The stakeholder groups each include 30 members, selected from applications from high level experts after a public recruitment process. The composition of the two stakeholder groups is based on legal requirements as defined in EIOPA's regulation and members were selected for outstanding professional expertise, as well as appropriate geographical and gender balance to achieve the best available representation of stakeholders. The Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group currently consists of ten industry representatives, five consumer representatives, eight users of insurance and reinsurance services, two representatives of trade unions and five independent academics.


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3. The Consumer Panel is a statutory body under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and was initially established by the Financial Services Authority in December 1998. The Panel advises the FSA Board on the interests and concerns of consumers and reports on the FSA's performance in meeting its objectives.


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5. The emphasis of the Panel's work is on activities that are regulated by the FSA, although it may also look at the impact on consumers of activities outside but related to the FSA's remit. More information about the Panel's work is available on our website[1].


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7. From the 1st April 2011 there are fifteen members of the Panel as listed below. Panel members are appointed to serve a maximum of two terms of three years. Further information on individual members[2].