Flotillas and battleships

Multinational insurance groups are becoming more centralised, but even with Solvency II some argue the process has its limits. By Nicholas Dunbar

"It's the big debate," says Mel Carvill, deputy general manager of Trieste-based EUR380 billion insurance group, Generali. "What are the benefits of being global? How do you leverage the benefits of being big? Investors and industry practitioners are all asking this question."

Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ocean are asking the question too, as they consider moves away from locally-based insurance supervision towards a more coordinated approach, exemplified by the proposed Solvency II