Editorial
We continue our series of articles analyzing the application and implications of Solvency II, launched in issue 56 of Trébol with a commentary by Pedro López Solanes, General Manager of MAPFRE International, on the application of the new regulations to insurance groups with companies in countries that do not belong to the European Economic Area (EEA). It would appear that Solvency II takes account of all possible cases, being the availability of economic information for the group, and the provision of suitable IT tools to produce accurate and homogeneous calculations the indispensable keys to compliance with the new regulations for the European insurance sector. Nevertheless, the various markets are governed by very different parameters such as criteria for valuing real estate and interest rate curves; this means that the coming months will be critical in terms of carrying out the calculation procedures for Solvency II.
A responsible society safeguards its cultural heritage and endeavours to hand it down to future generations. In today’s world, companies also take on this task, which used to be accomplished by copyist monks in their monasteries. Insurance is a science that spans many areas of learning, and it needs to establish new terms, to record those which have always existed and to translate them into other languages so as to disseminate their meaning. María José Albert and Ana Sojo of Instituto de Ciencias del Seguro of MAPFRE Foundation take us on a journey through the history of the MAPFRE Insurance Dictionary, which is now managed with the help of 21st-century technology, the Internet and all its associated tools.
The name of this vessel is inseparably linked with oceanographic research in Spain: the Hespérides. For the last 20 years, it has set sail for the southern summer each December, carrying international groups of researchers and highly sophisticated equipment to accomplish its scientific missions. In our interview with Commander Aguilar, we embark on a voyage of discovery that includes such varied aspects as managing the risks of sailing in waters where there is ice, the logistics of the Spanish Navy as handled by a professional crew, and the management of the waste generated during voyages; we also learn how the Antarctic Treaty protects the ice continent from national interests. This is a comprehensive lesson in risk management in the most hostile environment imaginable, which nevertheless holds many more scientific discoveries in store.
David Trueba comes from a family of movie makers, but one with a keen awareness of traditional social values. In this interview -which he agreed to grant us as soon as we made our request- this modern Leonardo da Vinci of the intellectual world explains how he started out on the basis of his journalistic training to explore the worlds of the novel, cinema and many aspects of television. He does not fit into any single profession; he is not afraid to carry on experimenting; and in the meantime, he continues to deliver entertainment, laughter and food for thought to all those who read and see his work.