IPD says new Danish government must create ‘growth team’ for financial sector

Denmark’s pension and insurance lobby group is calling on the country’s new government – once it has been formed – to tighten its focus on the financial sector, and rethink the framework around the industry including taxes and “new unnecessary retail regulation”.

Kent Damsgaard, chief executive officer of Insurance & Pension Denmark (IPD), said: “The main role of the insurance and pension industry is to create security in everyday life, but we are also a crucial prerequisite for growth, prosperity and jobs to be created across the country.

“We need to have that perspective to a much greater extent, and an obvious start would be for the incoming government to set up a growth team for the financial sector,” he said in a statement this morning.

Denmark’s political parties remain in talks over coalition options following the 1 November general election, in which the Social Democrats – in power since June 2019 – became the biggest in parliament once more with 27.5% of votes.

IPD’s CEO said political framework conditions for the insurance and pension industry all too often consisted of special taxes and “new unnecessary retail regulation”.

“That approach is detrimental to the ordinary insurance and pension customer, but also a hindrance to how the industry can help support growth and development broadly in society,” Damsgaard said.

With nearly DKK4tn (€538bn) in pension investments and just under DKK50bn a year in compensation payments, the sector could and would play a decisive role in promoting growth and development in society, he said.

“There are not many industries that have such direct contact with virtually the entire population and with all companies in Denmark,” he said.

“So I hope that a new government and the new parliament will have an even keener eye on how we can contribute to development and new growth – both in our own industry and, by virtue of the large role we play, for the rest of society,” Damsgaard said.

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