The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has increased the level of disclosure it requires in insurers’ annual financial statements as part of its overhaul of solvency standards.

In its latest bulletin, RBNZ outlines that solvency standards already include requirements of insurers to publicly disclose their Solvency Margin in their annual financial statements and on their website, if there is one.
But now it wants those requirements extended.

“It is proposed to extend the current disclosure requirements to include the insurer’s Actual Solvency Capital, Minimum Solvency Capital, Solvency Margin and Solvency Ratio in respect of each Solvency Standard applicable to it and an aggregate disclosure of these measures in respect of its total business,” the report says.

“Financial statement disclosure must include a comparison to the prior financial year,” it says.

Overseas insurers only have to include the appropriate disclosure within the New Zealand branch financial statements.

Insurers wishing to discuss the changes are invited to attend seminars being held in Auckland and Wellington next week.