Florence Bindelle
September is a busy time for FERMA with the publication of our first European Risk and Insurance Report and the Seminar approaching closer. We’re also working on the plans for our gala dinner to celebrate our 40th anniversary, which will take place on 20 October at the Seminar, and not forgetting forward planning for the 2015 Risk Management Forum in Venice. It’s a very full calendar.
In early September, we met with the five sponsors of our Risk Management Benchmarking Survey to analyse the results of the 850 responses and prepare the European Risk and Insurance Report. The report will be a visually attractive and catchy document that highlights the major findings of the survey to serve as the basis for discussion at the Seminar, communication with senior management and discussion among the national association members.
With more than six weeks to go, the Seminar had already reached the number of risk managers that we had in 2012 in Versailles! Clearly, there will be more registrations between now and then. Thank you to Airmic members for their strong support. The celebration of our 40th anniversary will be a good time to dive into the history of FERMA and look at the future, too.
On the EU front, the update of our joint guidance on the 8th Company Law Directive with the European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA) has been completed and is now at the printer.
We have a new Commissioner to get to know. She is Elżbieta Bieńkowsa, designated by Commission President Jean Claude Junker as Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Enterpreneurship and SMEs. Mrs Bieńkowsa was Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure and Development Minister at the time of her appointment. She is to take office in November.
Looking further ahead, our biggest event, the Forum, takes many months to organise. We are currently preparing the sponsorship brochure and we have invited sponsors to a site meeting in late September, followed by a board meeting the following day.
We have also been holding meetings to discuss future collaborations and working on developments to support the profession. One of the most important is professional certification, and we have begun the planning phrase. So as you can see, we have an exciting time ahead of us. We hope to see many of you at the Seminar and the gala dinner.