The form relating to authorised insurance entities and reinsurance entities is required to be subject to audit review and testing. The forms relating to the consolidated insurance group reporting unit is not subject to audit review and testing.
The scope and nature of audit testing required is outlined in the applicable Audit Guidance Statement issued by the Auditing and Assurance Board of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation.
Information provided in the form in respect of a financial year of an insurer forms part of the insurer’s ‘yearly statutory accounts’ within the meaning of section 3 of the Insurance Act 1973. This means that:
the completed form for the financial year must be audited by the approved auditor of the insurer (see paragraph 49J(1)(a) of the Act);
the insurer must make such arrangements as to enable the auditor to do this (subsection 49J(2));
the auditor must give the insurer a certificate relating to the completed form (and other completed forms that are part of the insurer’s yearly statutory accounts), which must contain statements of the auditor’s opinion on the matters required by the prudential standards to be dealt with in the certificate (subsection 49J(3));
the certificate must be lodged with APRA as provided for in the prudential standards (paragraph 49L(1)(a)), namely by the due date for lodging the form in respect of the financial year for the insurer.
Reporting entity
This form is to be completed for the following reporting entities:
Branch insurers of a foreign parent insurer (reference to licensed insurer in the form means total operations of the branch, excluding the parent operations);
Authorised insurance entities, including mutual entities (reference to licensed insurer in the form means total operations of the licensed entity);
Authorised reinsurance entities (reference to licensed insurer in the form means total operations of the licensed entity); and
Consolidated insurance group.
For the purposes of APRA prudential reporting, the consolidated insurance group is interpreted as the accounts incorporating the highest parent entity in a group structure, that is an Australian authorised general insurance entity (for the purposes of the Insurance Act 1973), and includes all subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures (registered both in Australia and overseas) of that parent entity.
The highest parent entity in the corporate group does not include a company (e.g. non-operating holding company) that is not an authorised general insurance entity.
Definition of subsidiaries should be consistent with the requirements of Australian accounting standards AASB 1024 ‘Consolidated Accounts’ and definition of associates should be consistent with AASB 1016 ‘Accounting for Investments in Associates’.
This reporting unit is also applicable to licensed insurance entities of a foreign insurance company authorised and registered to operate as a subsidiary operation in Australia. The application of the consolidated insurance group concept in this regard is to exclude the foreign parent company. It is to be applied to the subsidiary company authorised and registered to operate as a general insurance operation in Australia and all its subsidiaries, associated and joint ventures.
Exemptions from the Consolidated Insurance Group requirements
Australian authorised insurers which do not have any subsidiaries are not required to complete the forms for this reporting unit.
Australian authorised insurers which have subsidiaries, but the financial position of the consolidated insurance group is not materially different from that of the licensed insurance entity, are not required to complete the forms for this reporting unit (i.e. the subsidiaries do not have any material dealings/balances).
Definitions
Definitions for data reporting items required by this form have been provided where possible in the instructions under the section headed ‘Specific Instructions’. In addition, the ‘Glossary of Terms’ also contains a list of definitions of common data reporting items.
Unit of measurement
The form is to be completed in Australian currency, rounded in thousands of dollars with no decimal place. Amounts denominated in a currency other than Australian currency are to be converted to AUD in accordance with AASB 1012 ‘Foreign Currency Translation’.
Reporting period
Insurers are required to report the information in the reporting form on a quarterly and annual basis.
The quarterly information is to be completed in respect of each quarter based on the financial year of the insurer, not the calendar year.
The annual information is to be completed in respect of the financial year of the insurer.
The financial information requested in this form is to be reported as at the last day of the reporting period on a financial year to date basis of the insurer. See the Reporting Requirements table for details.
Reporting lag
This form must be lodged for each of the reporting units within the number of business days after the end of the quarter as set out in the Reporting Requirements table.
Definitions for specific items in the form
Derivative financial instruments
Derivatives expose insurers to a full range of investment risks, even though in many cases there may be no, or only a small initial outlay. Insurers should set aside capital to cover the Investment Risk of these transactions particularly where derivatives are used for other purposes than hedging risk associated with the underlying position.
Generally defined as those instruments/contracts, where the value is based on other products, either financial or real, and/or on prices associated with financial products. Derivative contracts involve:
Future delivery, receipt or exchange of financial items such as cash or another derivative instrument, or
Future exchange of real assets for financial items where the contract may be tradeable and has a market value.
The contracts can either be binding on both parties (e.g. as with a currency swap) or subject to the exercise by one party of a right contained in the contract (as with options).
The counterparty in a derivative contract is the party assuming the credit risk. For exchange-traded contracts, credit risk is transferred or assumed by the exchange clearing house. For over the counter (OTC) contracts (e.g. derivative contracts customised for the Insurer by a bank), the other party to the contract (seller or buyer) is the counterparty.
Derivative products/contracts are not limited to but include the following:
Options (including call and put options; exchange-traded and over-the-counter options; interest-rate, bullion, commodity and equity options; warrants);
Interest rate swaps;
Cross-currency interest-rate swaps;
Foreign exchange swaps;
Foreign exchange forwards;
Futures (i.e. bank bill, bond, equity); and
Forward rate agreements.
Where the insurer has used the look through provisions under an approved Extended Licensed Entity in relation to units held in a related/controlled entity for the purposes of determining the Investment Risk Capital Charge. Any associated derivative balances relating to the insurers investment securities/portfolio that is contracted by the related entity must also be recognised by the licensed insurer.
Exclude:
Derivative margin accounts, which hold deposits lodged with an exchange or clearing house as collateral to cover adverse movements in market prices. These balances are to be reported in the Investments form under the appropriate line item within “Call Deposits”.
Repurchase/Resale agreements despite their similarity to a FRAs and/or swaps.