Allianz secures Binding Corporate Rules certification in initiative to strengthen data privacy within group

Allianz Group recently received approval of its Binding Corporate Rules from the EU-mandated Bavarian Data Protection Authority, BayLDA. Binding Corporate Rules or "BCRs" were developed by the European Union to allow multinational corporations to make intra-organizational transfers of personal data across borders in compliance with EU Data Protection Law.

In principle, EU data protection law does not allow the transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States, Asia, and other regions. With the BCRs, companies can overcome that restriction, affording EU-level privacy protection to individuals globally, including those in countries with minimal to no safeguards for privacy rights and freedoms.

“Our business is built on trust. In an era where data privacy is an increasingly sensitive issue, it is critical that Allianz continue to be at the forefront of privacy protection,” says Dr. Helga Jung, Member of the Board of Allianz SE. “BCRs approval emphasizes how we are committed to maintaining the trust of our customers, employees, and business partners.”

Achieving BCRs status means Allianz is well prepared for the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect on May 25, 2018. Attaining BCRs approval required Allianz to evidence it has a comprehensive and effective framework in place to safely and lawfully transfer personal data out of Europe.

This process was driven by the Allianz Privacy Renewal Program, a global regulatory change program that began in January 2016 and comprised more than 80 sub-projects spread over 700 companies across the Allianz Group. European data protection authorities scrutinized the internal governance setup and implementation of the BCRs, as well as how Allianz embeds requirements into organizational processes, including through training and audit programs.

“It has been a significant undertaking, but it’s worth it,” says Dr. Philipp Räther, Group Chief Privacy Officer at Allianz. “For Allianz, privacy is a core business capability and a corporate social responsibility.”

The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with more than 88 million retail and corporate customers. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing over 650 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers while our asset managers Allianz Global Investors and PIMCO manage an additional 1.4 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we hold the leading position for insurers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2017, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenue of 126 billion euros and an operating profit of 11 billion euros for the group.



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