^aANIA, Via della Frezza 70, IT-00186 Roma, Italy. E-mail: giampaolo.galli@ania.it

Abstract

Transparency plays a central role in all aspects involving good governance and business ethics: this is even more true in an industry such as life insurance, for which trust and long-term relationship are key cornerstones. Transparency of life and pension products is currently a burning issue in Italy for several reasons, among which the fact that life insurance is gaining ground as one of the most popular saving vehicles and that a new pension reform was recently approved by the Parliament, paving the way to a more important role of insurers in the provision of supplementary pensions. Current criticism towards the industry focuses on regulatory differences between insurance and finance, particularly in the area of distribution and disclosure. Actually, such differences are not substantial and, thanks to regulatory initiatives – including self-regulation, are quickly disappearing.