Some agreement on account balances in contracts
28 November 2011
International accounting standards boards have agreed to separate explicit account balances from insurance contract liability…
Regulatory & Government
FOFA bill off to another committee
21 November 2011
The Future of Financial Advice bill has become bogged down in another parliamentary inquiry…
ASIC to investigate comparison sites
21 November 2011
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has put general insurance comparison sites next on its review agenda…
Submissions to APRA go public
21 November 2011
Future submissions to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority consultations will be made public, but organisations will be able to request all or part of their submission remains confidential…
Liquidity rules for insurers defined by APRA
21 November 2011
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released guidelines on how it wants the Basel III liquidity reforms implemented…
ASIC proposes new rules for research houses
21 November 2011
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission wants life insurance research houses to separate their consulting operations from analytical services…
Low premiums give Victoria competitive advantage, says WorkSafe chief
21 November 2011
WorkSafe Victoria will have the lowest premiums in the country next year, giving the state a great competitive advantage, Chairman Elana Rubin says in the agency’s annual report…
Enforce, communicate and monitor, new regulator told
21 November 2011
New Zealanders want their Financial Markets Authority to ensure effective enforcement, better communication with market participants and active monitoring of the market…
Scaled advice not worth the cost, say insurers
14 November 2011
The general insurance industry isn’t willing to provide personal advice on its products because it would be too expensive, according to the Insurance Council of Australia…
Drop stamp duty on insurance, says Victorian commission
14 November 2011
The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission has told the Victorian Government it should develop and implement an agenda for reforming state taxes, including stamp duty taxes on insurance…
WorkCover NSW ‘must act to reduce deficit’
14 November 2011
The NSW WorkCover scheme may need to increase premium rates to reduce its $2.4 billion deficit, Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat says in his annual report…
NSW Auditor-General urges action on HIH builders’ insurance
14 November 2011
NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat has raised concerns about the growing liability of HIH claims managed by the NSW Building Insurers’ Guarantee Corporation…
Comparison platforms worry APRA
07 November 2011
General insurance price comparison platforms and their impact on insurers’ profitability has come under scrutiny by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority…
FOFA bill report now due next year
07 November 2011
The Government has experienced more delays with its Future of Financial Advice bill…
Few claims for Victoria’s building insurance
07 November 2011
Victoria’s builders’ warranty insurance scheme has attracted $53 million of gross premiums since the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) took over the scheme on May 31 last year…
Accounting chiefs decide on insurance contracts
07 November 2011
Both global accounting boards have agreed on how insurers should present their insurance contract information in balance sheets…
Call to separate insurance from bank risk supervision
07 November 2011
The Geneva Association has called on members of the G20 group to separate insurance from the banking industry when looking at systemic risk…
EQC levy to be property-based under Labour
07 November 2011
New Zealand’s Labour Party says it will make the Earthquake Commission levy a property-based charge rather than one levied on insurance premiums if it is elected later this month…
Doubts over FOFA start date
31 October 2011
The July 1 implementation date for the Future of Financial Advice reforms will probably be deferred, according to opposition financial services spokesman Mathias Cormann…
Inquiry hears of conflicting hydrology assessments
31 October 2011
Flood victims in central Victoria suffered from inconsistent advice from insurers and hydrologists, the House of Representatives inquiry into the insurance response to disasters heard last week…