The Icelandic bank Kaupthing experienced problems in Iceland and the Riksbank granted the Swedish subsidiary Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB liquidity assistance in October 2008. Carnegie Investment Bank AB also received liquidity assistance in October when it had problems finding funding. Given the financial market turbulence, the Riksbank’s assessment was that a suspension of payments by one of the banks could entail a risk of a serious disruption in the financial system and could undermine confidence in the payment system. Finansinspektionen (the Swedish financial supervisory authority) later revoked Carnegie’s licence to conduct banking activities. The Swedish National Debt Office took control over Carnegie and Finansinspektionen therefore changed its decision regarding the revocation of the licence to instead giving the bank a warning. The Riksbank’s liquidity assistance has been repaid. The Riksbank has also participated in the international cooperation to strengthen financial stability in Sweden's neighbouring countries. In May 2008, the Riksbank and the central banks in Denmark and Norway entered into a euro/Icelandic kronor swap agreement with the central bank of Iceland. The aim of this swap agreement is to support the Icelandic central bank in its efforts to safeguard macroeconomic and financial stability. Sweden's part of the swap agreement amounts to EUR 500 million. The agreement was extended in December after the IMF had drawn up a programme for financial assistance for Iceland. Latvia has negotiated a support package with the IMF and the EU which will make it possible for the country to retain its fixed exchange rate against the euro.

The reason for this is simple: insurance products can be complex and coupled with the sophisticated needs of clients such as individuals and SMEs, the human and personal touch of an agent can come in handy. It is these functions that will remain relevant in the Digital Economy; those that require intuition, discretion and sometimes, empathy; traits that are not easily programmable. Having said that, the Digital Economy will revamp the distribution landscape for general insurance and these changes are currently in progress as we speak. General insurance agents must accept and embrace the shifting business dynamics towards digitalisation. The agency force must not only reinvent themselves to reflect the latest digital trends, but also upgrade their capabilities in line with the latest technological developments. Thus, I would like to suggest three strategies that general insurance agents can take in not just surviving, but also thriving in the Malaysian Digital Economy, namely: First, improving the customer experience by enhancing your service capability. Compared to other financial products, such as banking products and investment products, insurance products are inherently more complex to understand. It is perhaps not a surprise that customer satisfaction of the local insurance industry is lower than other financial services industries. According to BrandIndex , in its study of the health of brand names in Malaysia, the top 5 insurance brands in Malaysia scored relatively lower than that of their top 5 counterparts in other financial service sectors (especially banking).