"Right now, our industry in the U.K. is hit by the double whammy of a persistent soft market and lagging economic activity," said Mr. Plumeri. "We've seen a dramatic slowing of the consolidation among smaller firms and downward pressure on the value of broking businesses."

Willis went on to say that Mr. Plumeri, lauded the consumer protection goals of Solvency II, but questioned the impact of the proposed European Union regulatory scheme on insurance captives, saying the regulatory requirements for European Union insurance firms may not take into account "the fact that captives are fundamentally different from mainstream insurance companies and may not require Solvency II's intended level of regulation."

"The concern is that, rather than improving the system, Solvency II could make risk management more difficult for some companies," Mr. Plumeri noted.

He also pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the new Insurance Mediation Directive from Brussels, with changes impacting European brokers that could range from full transparency in compensation to the abolishment of commissions altogether in favor of client-paid fees, as is currently the practice in Scandinavia.

"What our industry would most welcome is clarity and certainty," Mr. Plumeri said.

The full text of his speech is available here.