II-6.13 : Three Ministerial Orders nominate the President, members, and General Secretary of the new "Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel - ACP (Prudential Control Authority)

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr

Context and Summary

The Ordinance of 21 January 2010 creating the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel (ACP – Prudential Control Authority) specifies that the ACP will be presided by the President of the Bank of France. Mr. Christian Noyer will therefore fulfil the role of President of the ACP starting on 9th March, the date the ACP will be inaugurated.

Furthermore, two Ministerial Orders of 5 March 2010 complete the Authority’s internal organisational chart. The first nominates Mr. Jean-Phillipe Thierry vice president of the ACP. The second defines the composition of the College and the Disciplinary Commission. The ACP’s College is therefore constituted by M. Olivier Fouquet, Mr. Francis Assié, Mr. Jean-Philippe Vacchia, Mr. Emmanuel Constans, Ms. Hélène Rey, Mr. Jean-Marie Levaux, Mr. Philippe Mathouillet, Mr. Dominique Thiry, Mr. Lucien Uzan, Mr. Thierry Coste, Mr. Dominique Hoenn, Mr. François Lemasson et Mr. Christian Poirier. The Disciplinary Commission is composed by Mr. Bruno Martin-Laprade, Mrs. Claudie Aldigé, Mr. Francis Crédot, Mr. Pierre Florin et Mr. André Icard. 

Finally, the Ministerial Order of 8 March 2010 appoints Mrs. Danièle Nouy general secretary of the ACP.

Brief commentary

Reading the composition of the new Authority makes the type of banking supervision that insurers will now be submitted to quite evident. Not only does the Ministerial Order grant the presidency of the ACP to the President of the Bank of France, but also, analysing the composition of the ACP illustrates the underrepresentation of members issued from the field of insurance. Furthermore, the nomination of Mrs. Danièle Nouy is simply transferring the general secretary of the Commission bancaire (Banking Commission) into the same functions in the ACP.
The consequences of this thorough modification to the insurance business can now be drawn. The creation of a “common pool” between the ACP and the AMF was a first-step towards the recognition of the changes currently occurring in the insurance business. The composition of the ACP confirms this observation. Doubtlessly, insurers today also fulfil some of the functions of banks, which bears risks and needs appropriate regulation. Such a reshaping of insurance regulation’s architecture, and the importance granted to the banking sector in the process, is an illustration of the realisation of the changing role of insurance—pragmatic, but severe for insurers.