Description: Carlos Arocha, the 2022 Chair of the International Section Council, introduces the articles featured in the current newsletter issue. In addition, he highlights recent and planned activities undertaken by the section.

Description: Composition of the new council and news about the International Section. Groupingactuaries living in different parts of the world and practicing in diverse areas of application of actuarial science, the International Section has sustained its relevancein a world that becomes more interconnected. The harmonization of solvency andconsumer privacy laws and regulations, and the establishment of international financial reporting standards, has prompted our Section to deliver content that helps complement the educational offer available from the Society of Actuaries. But actuaries around the world are enthusiastically tapping into predictive analytics, data science, and risk modeling. Accordingly, the SOA offers three certificate programs: • International Financial Reporting for Insurers (IFRI) • Predictive Analytics • Ethical & Responsible Use of Data

Description: Brief essay on the benefits of focused pratice and the idea that differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a long-life persistence of deliberate effort to improve performance.

Description: Brief description of the actuarial profession in Switzerland, the success story of the Swiss Solvency Test (SST), and some features of the insurance market.

Description: The insurance industry in Panama has enjoyed a sustainable growth over the last few years. Actuaries now are part of an established profession.

Description: In this translation of an original article by Oscar E. Velandia, the role of the actuary in the Colombian insurance market place in light of regulatory change is examined. A comparison with the rules from the Solvency II Directive puts the actuarial function into context. In addition, the new financial reporting requirements set forth by IFRS 17 and the involvement of the actuary in finance is described.

Description: As insurance companies in many jurisdictions around the world are in the midst a major overhaul of financial reporting processes for insurance contracts, the question about tapping on the experience of Solvency II may help these companies to implement IFRS 17. There are a few similarities between IFRS 17 and Solvency II, most notably with respect to the economic balance sheet approach, or the probability-weighted cash flow discounting techniques that both methodologies require. In addition, both IFRS 17 and Solvency II imply as broad and profound impact on all aspects of how insurers conduct business, from valuation methodologies and governance, data, processes, and technology impacts. Changes in roles and responsibilities between actuarial and finance departments also represent a considerable business impact. However, in this article the author highlights the salient differences between IFRS 17 and Solvency II.

Description: The actuarial profession in Mexico is university-based. More than 14000 have earned an actuarial degree. Luciano Devars provides insights about the profession.

Description: In this session, presenters will share the impacts of transition to IFRS 17 on equity and various KPIs across insurance companies (Life & P&C), as well as share some observations of what the IFRS 17 landscape looks like across different global regions. The session will conclude with lessons learned and expectations for emerging practices under IFRS 17 globally.

Description: In this fifth issue of International News of 2022, we feature the following contributions: (1) Ruben John John Callo, FSA, FIAA, FLMI, and the SOA’s Ambassador to Australia under the Ambassador Program , presents an illustrative study aimed at helping consumers choose life insurance products using the “customer value per dollar” methodology, and although examples included relate to the Australian market, the methodological principles can be adopted in other markets; (2) Shirley Z. Song, FSA, MAAA, Member of the International Section Council, Josh Dobiac, MS,CAIA, and Yang Jing, deal with the Targeted Improvements to the Accounting of Long-Duration Contracts (LTDI), and the fact that both IFRS and US GAAP frameworks are evolving into a new financial reporting framework. The implications for US insurers are discussed.