Three years have passed since the Great Earthquake hit eastern Japan. Then we witnessed the Japanese people’s outstanding serenity in the face of tragedy. Now we discover how the insurance, reinsurance and governance challenges created by the disaster were managed extraordinarily well, as revealed by Tadashi Baba of Japan Earthquake Reinsurance. Speaking to trébol, Mr Baba describes how the most pressing organisational and financial issues were immediately addressed, and how the event was later reviewed to identify plausible future scenarios and plan measures to mitigate their impact on people and property.

The intricacy of designing and implementing Solvency II, the supervisory system for insurance companies, has caused several delays in the schedule for its entry into force. Elena Agúndez and Juan Pablo from MAPFRE’s Compliance department bring us up to date with the progress made over the last few months and the moment when the directive is expected to finally materialise. The insurance industry’s credibility has remained untarnished even during the financial crisis. The importance of keeping it that way has made it necessary to specify the roles of all the parties involved in detail, including insurers and regulators.

Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros was appointed Government High Commissioner for Marca España -literally the “Spain brand”- in 2012. Devised as an instrument State policy touching on all levels of government as well as the private sector and civil society, the role’s stated mission is to improve Spain’s image both inside and outside the country. And Mr Espinosa de los Monteros certainly has the best ingredients to go about it. In essence, his job is to identify, coordinate and combine strengths in order to change a country’s image -something that is by definition intangible and also highly vulnerable. The project has already reached cruising speed but it is down to all of us together to make sure it continues to be successful.

The actuarial profession is hardly known outside of the insurance world. Yet it is an exciting career to pursue on a number of counts, which the president of the Spanish Actuaries Institute, Luis María Sáez de Jáuregui, details in this issue. He also explains the differences in actuary training across several European countries, stressing the prowess of Spanish professionals and their reputation in Latin America. It is worth highlighting that actuaries play a key role in underpinning three basic pillars for the continuity of society as we know it: insurance, pensions and social security.