United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-02-28 monographic deposited born digital 80 p. GA 1.13:GAO-05-199 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199 P0b002ee18039c102 f:d05199 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199 GAO-05-199 Accounting standards Bonds (securities) Comparative analysis Emergency preparedness Foreign governments Insurance Insurance companies Insurance premiums Insurance regulation National preparedness Proposed legislation Risk management Terrorism Natural disasters Belgium Bermuda Florida Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund France Germany Italy Spain Switzerland United Kingdom Other Written Product A18316 Natural catastrophes and terrorist attacks can place enormous financial demands on the insurance industry, result in sharply higher premiums and substantially reduced coverage. As a result, interest has been raised in mechanisms to increase the capacity of the insurance industry to manage these types of events. In this report, GAO (1) provides an overview of the insurance industry's current capacity to cover natural catastrophic risk and discusses the impacts of the 2004 hurricanes; (2) analyzes the potential of catastrophe bonds--a type of security issued by insurers and reinsurers (companies that offer insurance to insurance companies) and sold to institutional investors--and tax-deductible reserves to enhance private-sector capacity; and (3) describes the approaches that six European countries have taken to address natural and terrorist catastrophe risk, including whether these countries permit insurers to use tax-deductible reserves for such events. We provided a draft of this report to the Department of the Treasury and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Treasury provided technical comments that were incorporated as appropriate. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199.pdf GAO-05-199 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-199 Other Written Product GAO-05-199; Catastrophe Risk: U.S. and European Approaches to Insure Natural Catastrophe and Terrorism Risks; Accounting standards Bonds (securities) Comparative analysis Emergency preparedness Foreign governments Insurance Insurance companies Insurance premiums Insurance regulation National preparedness Proposed legislation Risk management Terrorism Natural disasters Belgium Bermuda Florida Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund France Germany Italy Spain Switzerland United Kingdom Public Law 90-448