National Union of Insurance Agents

The National Union of Insurance Agents (NSSA) is a Russian non-profit organisation in the form of an association (union) that brings together professional associations of insurance agents. The Union was registered in Saint Petersburg on 17 December 2015. Since its foundation it has been headed by its president, Alexander Tutinas.

Founders

The Union was founded by two non-profit partnerships – the «Association of Insurance Agents» and the «Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers». The latter now operates under the name Association of Professional Insurance Agents (APSA). This Saint Petersburg association was registered in 2013 and represents the interests of individual entrepreneurs and organisations working as insurance agents. APSA aims to unite agents into a single system, develop their self-regulation, establish professional rules and standards for intermediary activities, protect members' interests in relations with insurance companies and government bodies, and raise the insurance culture of the population.

Goals of the Union

When the Union was established, it was announced that it would focus primarily on:

• preparing the regulatory framework for a law on insurance agency activities;
• creating and maintaining a unified register of insurance agents in Russia;
• standardisation and certification of agency activities.

Participation in regulatory reform

In 2016, the Bank of Russia set up a working group on the regulation of insurance intermediaries. It included representatives of the All-Russian Union of Insurers, the Association of Professional Insurance Brokers and the NSSA. The Union proposed that the regulator:

• recognise insurance agents as independent participants in the insurance business, like insurers and brokers;
• place agents in a separate category of self-regulation;
• build a three-tier system: agent – non-profit organisation or self-regulatory organisation (SRO) of agents – national union;
• entrust the Union with developing standards for agents' activities, and create a training and certification system and a unified register for them under the supervision of the Bank of Russia.

The Union opposed rigidly tying an agent to a single insurer for each class of insurance. It insisted that agents who are individual entrepreneurs should be free to choose whom to work with.

Role in the market

The NSSA and its affiliated APSA are among the few associations in Russia that speak specifically on behalf of insurance agents rather than insurers or brokers. Their proposals concern the status of agents, professional standards, qualification requirements and the register of intermediaries. These topics are also important for insurance intermediaries in Kazakhstan, so the experience of Russian agency associations is useful when discussing the regulation of agency activities.