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🗺️ '''Governance map''' is a structured document or visual representation that delineates the allocation of management responsibilities, reporting lines, and decision-making authority within an insurance organization, ensuring that every significant business function — from [[Definition:Underwriting | underwriting]] and [[Definition:Claims management | claims]] to [[Definition:Risk management | risk management]] and [[Definition:Compliance | compliance]] — has a clearly identified individual accountable for its oversight. In the insurance sector, governance maps have moved from best-practice guidance to regulatory expectation, driven by frameworks such as the UK's Senior Managers and Certification Regime ([[Definition:Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) | SM&CR]]), which requires firms to produce a "responsibilities map" detailing prescribed and overall responsibilities of senior managers. Similar mapping obligations exist under [[Definition:Solvency II | Solvency II]]'s system of governance requirements, Hong Kong's Manager-in-Charge regime, and various other supervisory frameworks.

⚙️ Constructing a governance map for an insurer involves documenting the board structure, the roles and responsibilities of key function holders — such as the [[Definition:Chief risk officer (CRO) | CRO]], [[Definition:Chief actuary | chief actuary]], [[Definition:Compliance officer | compliance officer]], and head of [[Definition:Internal audit | internal audit]] — and the committees through which oversight is exercised. The map must reflect the actual management structure, including any [[Definition:Delegated underwriting authority (DUA) | delegated authority]] arrangements where decision-making power flows to [[Definition:Managing general agent (MGA) | MGAs]], [[Definition:Coverholder | coverholders]], or outsourced [[Definition:Third-party administrator (TPA) | service providers]]. For complex groups with multiple legal entities across jurisdictions, the governance map must also clarify relationships between parent companies, subsidiaries, and branches, and show how group-level oversight interacts with local board responsibilities. Regulators often review these maps during the authorization process, supervisory visits, and when evaluating applications to add or change senior personnel, treating them as a litmus test for whether the insurer truly understands its own power structures.

📌 A well-maintained governance map is far more than a regulatory filing — it is a practical management tool that helps insurance organizations avoid gaps and overlaps in accountability, which are frequent root causes of operational failures. When a [[Definition:Natural catastrophe (Nat Cat) | catastrophe]] event triggers a cross-functional response spanning [[Definition:Reinsurance | reinsurance]] recovery, [[Definition:Claims | claims]] triage, and external communications, a clear governance map ensures that decision-making authority is unambiguous and that escalation paths are understood. For [[Definition:Insurtech | insurtech]] firms transitioning from startup to regulated entity, creating a credible governance map early in the authorization process signals organizational maturity to regulators. The discipline of mapping responsibilities also surfaces dependencies on key individuals, prompting succession planning and reducing [[Definition:Key person risk | key person risk]] — a concern that regulators across the globe consistently flag during supervisory reviews.

'''Related concepts:'''
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Definition:Corporate governance]]
* [[Definition:Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR)]]
* [[Definition:Fit and proper requirement]]
* [[Definition:Solvency II]]
* [[Definition:Internal audit]]
* [[Definition:Compliance]]
{{Div col end}}

Definition:Governance map - Revision history

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