VII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INSURANCE LAW: DIGITALISATION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY

On 19 and 20 October, the VII International Conference on Insurance Law took place simultaneously in the auditorium of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and online, focusing on the subjects of digitalisation, climate change and sustainability. The Conference featured two inaugural conferences, four round tables, eight communications and three institutional and international conferences. More than 70 people enjoyed the programme.

The event was organised by the Spanish Section of the International Association of Insurance Law (SEAIDA) and UC3M, with the collaboration of the Revista Española de Seguros, MAPFRE and the Centro de Riesgos y Seguros of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. It was also sponsored by the R&D research projects PID2020-114549RB-I00 and TED2021-130293B-100, as well as by the Deloitte Legal-UC3M Chair in Business Law, the Ibero-Latin American Committee of AIDA and the Cuatrecasas-UC3M Chair in Corporate Law and International Financial, Tax and Arbitration Law.

The Conference was presented by Pilar Perales Viscasillas (Chair Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M and co-director of the Conference), Carlos Estebenet (President of AIDA Worldwide), Félix Benito Osma (Secretary General of SEAIDA and co-director of the Conference), Juan Pedraza Laynez (Corporate Director of the MAPFRE Legal Department), Juan Pedraza Laynez (Director of the MAPFRE Legal Department), Juan Pedraza Laynez (Corporate Director of the Legal Department of MAPFRE Spain), Javier Fontcuberta Llanes (Managing Director of Cuatrecasas) and Nicolás de Gaviria (Managing Partner of Deloitte Legal).

The inaugural conferences were given by Rafael Illescas (President of SEAIDA) and Flavia Rodríguez-Ponga Salamanca (Director General of the Insurance Compensation Consortium), who spoke about, on the one hand, big data, artificial intelligence and platforms – which constitute the third step in electronic insurance contracting – and, on the other, the functions of the Insurance Compensation Consortium, highlighting the role of the Consortium in relation to the extraordinary number of claims in agriculture as a result of extreme weather events arising from climate change.

These were followed by the first round table, which focused on the risks of digitalisation for insurance and reinsurance. This panel was moderated by Marta García Mandaloniz (Associate Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M) and included the participation of Ruth Duque (partner at Cuatrecasas), Guillermo Llorente (Corporate Director of Security at MAPFRE), Alberto Tapia Hermida (Chair Professor of Commercial Law at the Complutense University of Madrid), Joaquín Alarcón Fidalgo (President of the SEAIDA Working Group on new technologies, prevention and insurance) and Andrea Signorino Barbat (Professor at the University of Montevideo). This panel discussed at length the cyber policy and its implications for administrators, cyber risks (including an account of the facts and incidence of the cyber attack suffered by MAPFRE in 2020), the “DORA” Regulation and the common war risk exclusion clause in relation to cyber warfare.

The second round table, moderated by Félix Benito Osma (Secretary General of SEAIDA and co-director of the Conference), was starred by Francisco Espejo (Deputy Director of Studies and International Relations of the Insurance Compensation Consortium), Alejandro Izuzquiza (Director of Operations of the Insurance Compensation Consortium) and Magdalena Rubio (Deputy Director General of Solvency of the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds). Among other topics, the speakers discussed the increase in physical risks arising from climate change, the impact of public-private partnerships for the management of such risks and the role of insurers and institutional associations in climate risk management.

This was followed by the third panel, which focused on insurance, digitalisation and competition. It was moderated by Antonio Robles Martín-Laborda (Associate Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M and co-director of the Conference) and was attended by Fernando Díez Estella (Professor of Commercial Law at Nebrija University) and María Luisa Muñoz Paredes (Associate Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Oviedo). The speakers addressed some of the most current issues surrounding insurance and competition law, such as algorithmic collusion, the customisation of insurance, protection gaps and policyholder discrimination.

The first day of the Conference concluded with presentations by Albano Gilabert Gascón (postdoctoral researcher at the University Jaume I of Castellón), Juan Pablo Gonzales Bustos (Lecturer in Commercial Law at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Pedro Aránguez Díaz (FPU researcher at the UC3M), Irene Córdoba Mochales (FPU researcher at the University of Valencia), Anthony Charles de Novaes da Silva (Lawyer specialised in Insurance Law and Master in Linguistics at the Universidade Presbiteriana), Sonia Uceda Martínez (Graduate in Business Law and Ph.D. Candidate in Criminal Law), Tatiana Arroyo Vendrell (Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M) and Juan Manuel Ramírez Cirera (FPU researcher at UC3M).

The second day of the Conference began with the fourth round table, moderated by Pilar Perales Viscasillas (Chair Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M and co-director of the Conference). Juan Bataller Grau (Chair Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Valencia), Ignacio Ortiz del Río (partner at Deloitte Legal), Pierpaolo Marano (Professor of Economic Law at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan) and David Ramos Muñoz (Associate Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M and co-director of the Conference). The speakers examined issues such as the impact of climate litigation on insurance, civil liability arising from ESG risks, the preventive function of insurance in relation to sustainability and sustainability reporting by insurance companies.

After this, the attendees enjoyed three institutional and international conferences. The first, by Carlos Estebenet (President of AIDA Mundial), on reinsurance in a context of change and uses and practices as catalysts; the second, by Ignacio Machetti (President of Agroseguro), on agricultural insurance in the field of climate risks; and the third and last, by Roberto Ríos Ossa (Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Director of the Centro de Riesgos y Seguros), on risk and parametric insurance in Chile’s Fintech Law.

Rafael Illescas (President of SEAIDA) and Pilar Perales Viscasillas (Chair Professor of Commercial Law at UC3M and co-director of the Conference) closed the Conference and bid farewell to the attendees.