The Danish pensions industry association has thrown its weight behind proposals to cut red tape – part of a wide-ranging government overhaul of financial regulation.
Per Bremer Rasmussen, chief executive of industry group Insurance & Pension Denmark (IPD), said the sector had seen “a massive amount of regulation” in the wake of the financial crisis, which had been extensive and costly.
IPD was part of a working group – set up by Denmark’s Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs – alongside banking lobby group Finans Danmark, the Danish central bank Nationalbanken, researchers, and others.
Bremer Rasmussen said the group came up with suggestions on how to simplify regulation, but without compromising consumer safety.
It recommended the implementation of 56 initiatives covering direct EU regulations, Danish implementation of EU regulations, special national rules, and the supervision activities of the Danish FSA (Finanstilsynet).
Brian Mikkelsen, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, said: “The working group has carried out a good service check on whether the benefits of the last few years’ sharpening of financial regulation overall outweighs the costs that regulation involves for the financial sector.”
The group’s suggestions could contribute to estimated financial savings of more than DKK300m (€40.3m) for businesses every year, even though there were some initiatives where it was not possible to gauge the level of savings, said IPD.
The group also looked into whether regulation could be made more compatible with digitalisation, and how more use could be made of technological developments.
Bremer Rasmussen said the insurance and pensions sector had many new options within digitalisation.
“I am particularly glad it is possible to use digital solutions to a greater degree and focus more on providing insurance products that live up to consumer expectations for digital insurance products,” he said.
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