Major Insurance and Reinsurance Developments in 2008

Although all of the Latin American jurisdictions had notable regulatory and market developments in 2008, Brazil stands out as particularly significant given the size of the market involved and the fundamental nature of the developments seen there in the past year.

Reinsurance Explosion

Brazil is by far the largest insurance market in Latin America, representing approximately 44% of the gross written premiums in the region. That being said, with by far the largest population in South America, the 10^th largest economy in the world by GDP, low insurance penetration rates and more than 81% of current insurance premiums concentrated in life, auto and fire insurance, the Brazilian insurance market still has tremendous growth potential (estimated by some to be the third best growth potential in the world, behind only China and India). Indeed, Fitch Ratings recently released a report finding that the Brazilian insurance market grew by 15% in 2007 and predicting that, given