SHIPPING is still an opaque business, but the forensic attention of state actors seeking to sanction the activities of Iran, Syria and North Korea to name but a few of the current crop of targets, means that is changing, whether we like it or not. The premise of the Lloyd’s List Transparency forum was that shipping’s corporate veil is being pierced by ever more stringent financial and regulatory compliance requirements. 

Today’s podcast — the first of a daily series of specials from London International Shipping Week — examines the implications for shipping when it comes to sanctions, featuring the expert analysis of our speakers, particularly from the insurance perspective.

According to Neil Roberts, head of marine underwriting at Lloyd’s Market Association, marine insurers are doing everything they can to adhere to sanctions and follow the law, however ambiguity around which entities are engaged in sanctions is a serious problem.

Whilst it is an issue that is being foisted on industry, no amount of compliance expense is going to stop criminal behavior, he argues, pointing out that insurance has no constabulary powers.

More data is all very well but only a fraction of the data tide is useful or used.

The US regulators are deliberately vague and this sets up a tension with insurers who are based on law which is binary.

It is unrealistic to expect a supporting industry to solve an issue that a state wants to solve but lacks one or more of the means, will, or confidence to do militarily.

Joining Lloyd’s List Editor to dissect the day’s debate and offer her own forthright views on the matter before she jets off to Toronto next week to address the annual IUMI conference is Michelle Wiese Bockmann.