Late 20th Century: Deregulation and Innovation

Insurance Deregulation: Starting in the 1980s and continuing into the 1990s, many countries began to deregulate their insurance markets to encourage competition and reduce government interference. In the U.S., the McCarran-Ferguson Act (1945) had given states the authority to regulate insurance, but the 1980s saw calls for federal reform, leading to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which allowed banks, insurance companies, and securities firms to merge, further increasing the complexity and scope of the financial services industry.
Rise of Reinsurance and Catastrophe Bonds: As the risk of catastrophic events like natural disasters grew, so too did the market for reinsurance, where insurance companies buy insurance from other insurers to protect themselves against large-scale losses. In the 1990s, catastrophe bonds were introduced as a way to transfer the financial risk of natural disasters directly to capital markets, opening up new avenues for financing in the insurance industry.
Globalization of Insurance Markets: With the advent of advanced communication and computing technologies, global insurance markets began to integrate. Companies started offering global policies for multinational corporations and individuals. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and European Union (EU) began to standardize regulations, allowing insurance companies to operate more easily across borders.

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