The following collection of eight essays aims to establish the permanent relevance of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 for the world of risk and insurance, and highlight the long-term development of insurance and the various ways in which it is interwined with human lives and activities.

Financial markets belong to the strongly supervised and regulated sectors of most modern economies. This applies to both banking and insurance. Traditional motives and justifications for regulation in these two industries overlap to some extent, but differ also in many ways.

The world stands on the threshold of a stunning demographic transformation. For most of history until well into the 19th century, the elderly - defined here as adults aged 60 and over - comprised only a tiny fraction of the population, never more than 4 or 5 per cent in any country. In the developed world today, they comprise roughly 20 per cent of the population. Three decades from now in 2040, the share is on track to reach 30 per cent - and that is just the average. In Japan and the fastest-aging European countries, it will be approaching or passing 40 per cent.

Introduction Population ageing in most industrialised countries is accompanied by an increase in the need for long- term care (LTC). LTC can be defined as a mix of social and health care provided on a daily basis, formally or informally, at home or in institutions, to people suffering from a loss of mobility and autonomy in their activities of daily living. In 2011, the first baby-boom generation will turn 65, and it is forecast that the size of the old-age population in state of dependency will double in the next 50 years (OECD, 2005).