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"The proper role of the government, like the proper role of the advice-book parent, is to set the stage. The stage should give full rein to the creativity of capitalism. But it should also countervail the excesses that occur because of our animal spirits." Not my words, but the key phrases in a famous paper co-authored by two Nobel prize winners

Ever since the global financial crisis hit hard in 2008, the reinsurance industry has instinctively known the regulatory backlash has been coming. Now we know it is set for the summer of next year, when a list of global systemically important reinsurers will be released.

If the convergence community was fed up with being talked about at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, the annual Trading Risk roundtable was its chance to be heard

The old stock market saying that bull markets climb a wall of worry can equally be applied to hard insurance markets

Monte Carlo swung round once again and, if anything, it seemed to be busier than ever this year, with standing room only in the Cafe de Paris and the surrounding hotel lobbies for most of the time

Being one of the outward-facing members of The Insurance Insider's teams opens doors and gives industry access that many others can only dream of

There is no denying that the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous is a unique event in the reinsurance calendar

We are pleased to present the first edition of the annual MENA Reinsurance Barometer. It builds on the well-established GCC Reinsurance Barometer launched in March 2011, but now includes the wider Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, including Turkey

The Insurance Insider's second Honours event saw 700 leading industry executives packed into the spectacular riverside setting of London's Old Billingsgate Market at a splendid gala evening compered by UK comedian David Mitchell

There's plenty to talk about in the upstream and downstream energy markets and the power sector, as offshore wells continue to leak or suffer blowouts, onshore pipelines likewise leak or are sabotaged, while jackup rigs capsize with alarming regularity

Risk carriers are dreadful pessimists, with a tendency to look for the cloud attached to every silver lining. Historically, this tendency has been a helpful defence mechanism

I've chaired a lot of roundtables over years but this is one of the most lively I have been involved in for ages. Actually, scrub that. It's the most lively since the last time we had Stephen Catlin sitting around the table.