“More Brazil and less Brasilia” is a mark of our new Government that repeats itself and tries to instill in the minds of all that the reduction of the State is no longer an ideological discussion, but an imposition of reality.

It is curious to note our “Stockholm Syndrome” with the Government. We complain about inefficiency, bureaucracy, privilege, and cost, but we see almost as an ethical question the too-supposedly “organizing” governmental intervention of competition between us and the world.

At the time of opening the reinsurance market, we heard that it was a problem because many insurers were barely aware of reinsurance. To that we replied that we had a problem: a market that did not benefit from reinsurance as an instrument of development and differentiation between insurers.

The efficiency curve of regulation is not intuitive nor is the understanding that, to a certain extent, the imposition of rules presents a very poor cost / benefit relation. However, in our case, the ignorance of this phenomenon goes far beyond the limits of the reasonable.

We need to protect efficient and creative companies from competition with inefficient companies and with the state. How to do that? Eliminating the safety nets put in place by standards and procedures that are of no use, except to avoid that better solutions “challenge” the repetition of formulas.

As can be seen from the recent statements by the Superintendent of Susep, we now have the prospect of reducing or eliminating (i) the state presence in the activities of providing insurance for Brazilian insureds and reinsurance for Brazilian assignors and (ii) establishing rules that protect us from innovation.

We finally have the real chance for society to deliver insurance as an efficient and sophisticated instrument of risk management and for insurers, reinsurers, brokers and other private agents to allow them to be much better.

By: João Marcelo dos Santos

Founding Partner of “Santos Bevilaqua” (law office), president of the National Academy of Insurance and Pension Plan ANSP and former director and substitute superintendent of the Private Insurance Bureau (Susep).