Basel regulators to study insurers' reaction to US attacks

BASEL - Bank regulators considering allowing op risk insurance a role in the proposed Basel II bank accord will study closely how the insurance industry deals with the massive insurance claims arising from the September 11 attacks in the US. So said international bank supervisors in early October.

The way the insurance industry handles the claims, as well as its financial capacity to do so, will influence the attitude of bank regulators toward op risk insurance, the sources said.

The attacks devastated New York's financial district, leaving some financial firms with hundreds of staff dead, and destroying or damaging the buildings of several banks whose businesses were severely disrupted - an operational loss event of previously unimaginable proportions. The attacks fall within the