Nicolas Marescaux pleads for ethical oversight, impact assessments, and new forms of societal insurance
by Nicolas Marescaux
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Nicolas Marescaux is Vice-Chairman of the Institut des Actuaires’ ERM Commission | ||
As Europe prepares for open finance and open insurance, actuaries need to ensure that greater precision does not come at the cost of fairness. With a reminder that financial regulation has a shared purpose beyond market efficiency, this article makes the case for ethical oversight, impact assessments, and new forms of societal insurance. After raging for five days in September 1666, the Great Fire of London left 13,200 houses in ruins and 100,000 Londoners homeless – four fifths of the city was destroyed. In the wake of this catastrophe, Nicholas Barbon turned ashes into opportunity by setting up the first-ever fire insurance company, planting the seed for modern insurance – and offering a profound lesson about information inequality.
Disclaimer:
This article represents the opinion of the author, and not necessarily the opinion of the AAE.
This article was published in The European Actuary No. 42 – June 2025
