World Bank Releases Disaster Risk-Reduction Platform

The World Bank launched the “MultiCat Program,” a catastrophe bond issuance platform, so tha governments and other public entities will have access to international capital markets to insure themselves against the risk of natural disasters. The types of events that may be insured are earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and other wind storms. The platform, designed specifically to help governments from developing countries access affordable insurance coverage through the capital markets, allows participants to buy insurance coverage for multiple perils, countries and regions. The programme is flexible and supports a wide variety of structures, including the pooling of multiple risks, to take advantage of diversification benefits.