Regulator aims to clamp down on illegal insurers

Venezuela's insurance regulator is looking to tighten rules in a bid to reverse the increasing number of illegal insurance operators, local daily El Universal quoted head regulator Luciano Omar Arias as saying. The regulator is concerned by the increasing specter of unauthorized insurers and cooperatives but current legislation has proved a hindrance to the watchdog's efforts to stamp out illegal operations, Arias said. "The existence of a parallel illegal insurance market is a worry to the regulator but under current law our hands are tied," he said. The country's insurance and reinsurance law does not allow for stricter sanctions against companies operating outside their legal parameters, Arias said. However, the regulator is hopeful that the attorney general's office will introduce tighter controls on illegal insurance operators based on the results of ongoing investigations into the parallel market.