Multinational Enterprises and Institutional Regulation in the Life-Insurance Market in Spain, 1880–1935

The number of multinationals in the life-insurance sector expanded during the first era of globalization. Many of these firms gravitated to Spain, attracted by factors such as the country's small number of national companies and minimal regulatory requirements. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, however, the Spanish government began to impose more institutional regulations, increasing the guarantees, deposits, and reserves required of insurance companies. In response, American and British multinationals began to leave the Spanish market, propelled both by the new requirements and by a series of external factors that obliged American companies to reduce their international business. Finally, the economic disruption that accompanied the outbreak of World War I convinced American and British multinationals to withdraw from the Spanish insurance business.