Objectiving the role of insurance companies in the shadow banking system.

The low yield environment has pushed insurance companies to start “searching for yield”. This environment combined with the post-financial crisis regulation has led to some change within the so-called Shadow Banking System. Even though shadow banks were at the epicenter of this crisis, we still do not have a standardized and internationally acknowledge framework for assessing their size and scope. This web of interconnected market participants can be assessed in many ways. While we want to objectivize the role of insurance companies within this system, we will need to first, grasp the knowledge and understanding of this complex system. It will be done by reviewing different definitions, approaches, and methodologies to single out shadow banking. Then, we will re-use the same process to define and analyze the role of insurance companies as shadow banks and in terms of their shadow banking activities. We have the ambitious goal of locating this actor within the shadow banking system. To do so, we will develop a systematic approach using the definitions analyzed in the first part to build the argumentation. The framework will shed light on insurance companies as shadow banking entities or activities.