The Brazilian Reinsurance Institute, now called irb, must be one of the country's most hide-bound institutions. Founded 66 years ago by Getulio Vargas, a Brazilian president who modelled much of his "new state" on Mussolini's, irb has clung on to its monopoly through a military dictatorship, a return to democracy and an opening of financial markets. Brazil is the only big country where competition in ordinary insurance is free, but reinsurance—the assuming of part of the risk incurred by insurers—remains a state monopoly. Moreover, irb is its own regulator.
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