About

As one of the largest insurance groups in Switzerland, Allianz Suisse is among the entities most affected by the increasingly tight regulatory focus on market conduct. Headed by general counsel Irene Klauer and chief compliance officer Andreas Heimberg, the legal and compliance team plays an important role in helping the company adapt to these new operating conditions. By thoroughly distinguishing roles between the responsibility of legal and compliance, the team has been successful in finding solutions together with the business in view of the double challenge of digitalisation and low interest rate environment. Klauer says, ‘the biggest challenge has been to effectively combine our know-how and apply a steep learning curve in areas of law or practice where none of us has prior in-depth know-how or experience’. In spite of the company’s size, this oversight is provided by a team of just eight, with four lawyers in the legal team and two lawyers and two non-lawyers in the compliance team. Both Klauer and Heimberg play an integral role in running the company’s new ‘risk-based compliance approach’, which is currently being integrated into the company’s internal control framework.