The Profession held a joint seminar on ‘Human Genetics: Uncertainties and the Financial Implications Ahead’ with the Royal Society of London in September 1996. Papers submitted to that seminar included four from the profession and several from the medical, legal, social and scientific communities.

This Sessional Meeting is designed to provide a forum for discussion amongst a wider actuarial audience. The topic is important to the profession, not only in relation to life insurance, but perhaps even more in relation to health insurance. The four papers by the actuarial authors are reproduced, together with a short third party summary of the whole seminar and a more detailed summary by C.D. Daykin of the actuarial, legal and social points raised in the discussions.

The meeting takes the form of a panel discussion. Each of the panellists is to be invited to make introductory comments on their papers to update them where appropriate in the light of developments since September 1996 (for example the ABI statement) and will also suggest specific topics for discussion at the meeting. There is then an opportunity for members and guests to raise and debate all relevant issues.

This discussion meeting was on the subject of business ethics, with particular reference to the work of actuaries.

As an introduction to the meeting, copies of the paper, ‘Business Ethics: the New Bottom Line’, by Sheena Carmichael, were distributed to members of the Institute.

Sheena Carmichael is the director of ETHOS, a consultancy dedicated to helping organisations identify and manage ethical issues. She is a research associate at the European Institute of Business Ethics at Nigenrode University in the Netherlands.

The paper ‘Business Ethics: the New Bottom Line’, was published in 1995 by Demos, which “is an independent think-tank committed to radical thinking on the long-term problems facing the United Kingdom and other advanced industrial societies.

It aims to develop the ideas — both theoretical and practical — that will shape the politics of the 21st century, and to improve the breadth and quality of political debate.” It is a registered charity.

The paper has not been reproduced in British Actuarial Journal, but further information can be obtained from:

Demos, 9 Bridewell Place, London, EC4V 6AP; telephone: 0171 353 4479; facsimile, 0171 353 4481; email, martin@demos.demon.co.uk

These calculations of the Minimum Funding Requirement replace those that were issued with version 1.0 of GN27, which were made obsolete by the issue of version 1.1.