Insurance (prudential standard) determination No. 9 of 2008 - Prudential Standard GPS 230 - Reinsurance Management
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Objective and key requirements of this Prudential Standard
This Prudential Standard aims to ensure that a general insurer as part of its overall risk management framework has a specific reinsurance management framework to manage the selection, implementation, monitoring, review, control and documentation of reinsurance arrangements used by a general insurer.
To meet the key requirements of this Prudential Standard a general insurer must:
have in its reinsurance management framework a documented Reinsurance Management Strategy, sound reinsurance management policies and procedures and clearly defined managerial responsibilities and controls;
submit its Reinsurance Management Strategy to APRA when any material changes are made;
submit a Reinsurance Arrangements Statement detailing its reinsurance arrangements to APRA at least annually; and
make an annual reinsurance declaration based on the ‘two-month rule’ and ‘six-month rule’ specified in this Prudential Standard and submit the declaration to APRA.
Authority
This Prudential Standard is made under section 32 of the Insurance Act 1973 (the Act).
Application
This Prudential Standard applies to all insurers authorised under the Act.[1]
Subject to any specific transition rules, an insurer must comply with this Prudential Standard from 1 July 2008 (effective date).
Where specifically indicated in this Prudential Standard, certain requirements may be complied with on an insurance group basis.
Interpretation
Unless otherwise defined in this Prudential Standard, expressions in bold are defined in Prudential Standard GPS 001 Definitions.
Reinsurance management
An insurer must at all times have a reinsurance management framework to manage the risks arising from its reinsurance arrangements.
The insurer's reinsurance management framework must provide a reasonable assurance that the insurer's reinsurance arrangements are being prudently and soundly managed, having regard to such factors as the size, business classes, complexity of the insurer’s operations and its risk appetite.
For the purposes of this Prudential Standard:
(a) the reinsurance management framework must deal with both the reinsurance and, where relevant to the insurer, the retrocession arrangements of the insurer; and
(b) a reference to the insurer's operations is a reference to its operations in Australia and overseas through a branch.
An insurer’s reinsurance management framework must, at a minimum, include:
(a) a written Reinsurance Management Strategy (REMS) that complies with this Prudential Standard, is approved by the Board[3] and in regard to which the Board is satisfied that:
(i) it describes the key elements of the reinsurance management framework, including all policies, procedures, management responsibilities and controls of the kind referred to in paragraphs 9(b) and (c), and any other matters that this Prudential Standard requires to be included in a REMS;
(ii) the reinsurance management framework described in the REMS is appropriate and provides reasonable assurance that the insurer's reinsurance arrangements are being prudently and soundly managed having regard to such factors as the size, business classes, complexity of the insurer's operations and the risk appetite of the insurer; and
(iii) it describes the review referred to in paragraph 12.
(b) reinsurance management policies and procedures to manage the selection, implementation, monitoring, review, amendment (where appropriate) and documentation of reinsurance arrangements of the insurer and mechanisms to ensure that the reinsurance management framework remains effective; and
(c) clearly defined managerial responsibilities and controls.
An insurer’s reinsurance management framework must be consistent with the Business Plan[4] of the insurer.
There must be a clear link between the insurer’s reinsurance management framework (including the insurer’s REMS) and the insurer’s risk management framework.[5]
The insurer must ensure that its reinsurance management framework is subject to effective and comprehensive review, as part of the risk management framework review, by operationally independent, appropriately trained and competent staff and that the frequency and scope of this review is appropriate having regard to such factors as the size, business mix, complexity of the insurer's operations and the extent of any change to its business profile or its risk appetite. The review must include:
(a) a review of the REMS; and
(b) a review of the internal control system.
Only a Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement approved by APRA as a reinsurance arrangement may be considered as reinsurance for the purpose of calculating an insurer’s net exposure and its Maximum Event Retention (MER). The requirements of this Prudential Standard in relation to the REMS and the Reinsurance Arrangements Statement apply to any Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement approved as a reinsurance arrangement. Refer to paragraphs 42 to 47 and Attachment A for further requirements relating to the treatment of Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements.
Reinsurance Management Strategy
The REMS is a high level, strategic document intended to describe the key elements of the reinsurance management framework as set out in paragraph 9(a).
The insurer must review its REMS at least annually (or as close to annually as is practicable) to ensure that it accurately documents the insurer’s reinsurance management framework.
Where there are material changes to the operations of an insurer, the insurer must review and amend its reinsurance management framework and its REMS to take into account the changes. This REMS must be approved by the Board and submitted to APRA within 10 business days of Board Approval.
An insurance group may have a REMS in respect of the insurance group where reinsurance management is undertaken on a group basis or it is practical to produce a single over-arching REMS covering that insurance group. An insurance group REMS must consider and deal with the reinsurance management framework of each insurer within that insurance group as required by this Prudential Standard.
Where APRA is of the view that the insurance group REMS does not adequately address the reinsurance management framework of each insurer, or that a different form of REMS is desirable to ensure that the requirements of this Prudential Standard are met, APRA may, in writing, do either or both of the following:
(a) require one or more insurers within the insurance group to prepare and submit to APRA a separate REMS;
(b) require the preparation and submission to APRA of a REMS for a different insurance group within the corporate group
within a reasonable time specified by APRA.
An insurer must not intentionally deviate in a material way from its REMS except where this deviation has been approved by the Board and notified to APRA prior to the deviation occurring.
An insurer must inform APRA immediately if it anticipates that a problem is likely to arise out of its reinsurance arrangements that may materially and adversely affect its current or future capacity to meet its obligations. The insurer must put in place plans to redress any such problem and advise APRA accordingly.
An insurer’s REMS must:
(a) define and document the insurer’s objectives and strategy for reinsurance management and control, reflecting the insurer’s appetite for risk;
(b) identify the key elements of the insurer’s policies and procedures, processes and controls that comprise the insurer’s reinsurance management framework;
(c) summarise its process for setting and monitoring its MER[6] covering at least:
(i) the insurer’s willingness to take on catastrophic risks;
(ii) how the insurer’s financial resources cover its MER;
(iii) the review of policies and procedures in the light of the insurer’s business activities, as well as current market conditions (for example, the availability of adequate catastrophe reinsurance cover) and the frequency of that review;
(iv) the review of reinsurance management policies approved by the Board and the frequency of that review; and
(v) the independent review of compliance with reinsurance management policies and procedures and the frequency of that review;
(d) provide a summary of the processes for selecting, implementing, monitoring and reviewing reinsurance arrangements, including:
(i) identification and management of aggregations of risk;
(ii) methodologies for identification and management of upper bounds of programs;
(iii) methodologies for the selection of reinsurance participants, including the consideration of diversification and the reinsurers’ creditworthiness;
(iv) comment on the expected cession ratios for reinsurance arrangements;
(v) a description of the processing of reinsurance premiums and the collection of reinsurance assets arising under these arrangements, including how the recoverability of reinsurance assets is assessed; and
(vi) systems and control mechanisms for monitoring reinsurance placements and reinsurance assets, including independent review responsibilities and procedures;
(e) provide a summary of the process for ensuring accurate and complete reinsurance documentation is put in place;
(f) describe the processes for setting and monitoring retentions so that the insurer’s MER is not exceeded;
(g) identify those persons or groups of persons with managerial responsibility for the reinsurance management framework (including those persons responsible for reinsurance purchasing, collecting reinsurance assets and audit of the systems) and set out their roles and responsibilities in relation to that framework; and
(h) cover both the Australian operations and the risks arising from the overseas operations of the insurer that could impact on the Australian operations of the insurer.
If the insurer is part of an Australian or global corporate group or operates as a Category C insurer, the REMS must:
(a) include, if applicable, a summary of the group policy objectives and strategies relating to reinsurance;
(b) summarise the linkages between the local and group reinsurance arrangements;
(c) where any element of an insurer’s reinsurance management framework is controlled by another entity in the corporate group, or by head office, include details of all such arrangements, including claims settlement procedures where the parent entity or head office purchases reinsurance on a global group basis; and
(d) specify any arrangements relating to the existence of, and accessibility to, intra-group reinsurance arrangements.
Reinsurance Arrangements Statement
Where an insurer’s reinsurance arrangements incept on a common date, the insurer must submit to APRA, on an annual basis, a Reinsurance Arrangements Statement (Reinsurance Statement) that details the insurer’s reinsurance arrangements.[7] The annual submission must occur within two months of the inception of the insurer’s reinsurance arrangements.
Where an insurer has multiple inception dates for its reinsurance arrangements, the insurer must submit to APRA a Reinsurance Statement every six months.
Where the REMS covers the insurance group as a whole and APRA has not made a determination under paragraph 18, an insurance group may submit to APRA:
(a) a Reinsurance Statement in respect of the insurance group where the reinsurance arrangements cover the insurance group as a whole and it is practical to provide a single over‑arching Reinsurance Statement; or
(b) a Reinsurance Statement for each insurer in the insurance group.
Where APRA is of the view that the insurance group Reinsurance Statement does not adequately deal with the reinsurance arrangements of each insurer, or that a different form of Reinsurance Statement is desirable to ensure that the requirements of this Prudential Standard are met, APRA may, in writing, do either or both of the following:
(a) require one or more insurers within the insurance group to prepare and submit to APRA a separate Reinsurance Statement; or
(b) require the preparation and submission to APRA of a Reinsurance Statement for a different insurance group within the corporate group
within a reasonable time specified by APRA.
Where an insurer enters into reinsurance arrangements for a period in excess of 12 months, the Reinsurance Statement must confirm the continuation of these arrangements for each year of the duration of the arrangements.
A Reinsurance Statement must provide substantiation of the implementation of the reinsurance management strategy of the insurer detailed in the insurer’s REMS document. The Reinsurance Statement should contain:
(a) schematics of the insurer’s reinsurance arrangements which depict the effect of occurrence and aggregate deductibles and any other arrangement that potentially limits the reinsurers’ liability (including number of reinstatements, loss participation clauses and event limit clauses);
(b) details of individual parameters by class of business which indicate the highest per risk gross loss and multi-class catastrophic gross event limit to which the class of business portfolio is exposed;
(c) details of how the reinsurance program will reduce the overall gross exposures detailed in (b) above to result in the net retained per risk, by class of business, and catastrophic event retention levels of the insurer (material classes only to be included);
(d) details of the MER calculation (where not detailed in the insurer’s REMS) including details of modeling for catastrophe hazards, Probable Maximum Loss calculations and aggregate exposures (where applicable); and
(e) details of any Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements, including those which have not been approved by APRA.[8]
Documentation of reinsurance arrangements
As part of its reinsurance management framework, an insurer must have processes to achieve legally binding reinsurance arrangements.
At a minimum, the insurer must comply with the ‘two month rule’ detailed in paragraph 38 and the ‘six month rule’ specified in paragraph 39.
For any reinsurance contract entered into by an insurer incepting on or after 31 December 2008, the insurer must ensure that the reinsurance contract provides that:[9]
(a) the governing law of the reinsurance contract is Australian law; and
(b) any disputes that fall to be determined by a court are to be heard in an Australian court.
This paragraph does not apply to a Category E insurer.
Failure to comply with paragraph 30 or 31 results in a deduction of relevant reinsurance assets from Tier 1 capital in accordance with Prudential Standard GPS 112 Capital Adequacy: Measurement of Capital (GPS 112).
The reinsurance declaration
An insurer must make a reinsurance declaration annually. The reinsurance declaration is a declaration that the insurer has placed its reinsurance arrangements and that those reinsurance arrangements are legally binding. The reinsurance declaration must be based on the ‘two month rule’ and the ‘six month rule’ detailed below under paragraphs 38 and 39, respectively. This declaration is not required to deal with the documentation of individual facultative arrangements undertaken.
The reinsurance declaration must be signed by both:
a) the chief executive officer (by whatever name called);[10] and
b) the chief reinsurance officer (by whatever name called).
Where the chief executive officer and the chief reinsurance officer are the same person, the reinsurance declaration must be signed by that person and another person to be agreed upon with APRA.
The reinsurance declaration must be submitted to APRA either on, or before, the day that the insurer’s yearly statutory accounts are required to be submitted to APRA in accordance with reporting standards made under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (Collection of Data Act).
Should the reinsurance arrangements not be fully placed, the details of any gaps or potential gaps must be detailed in the reinsurance declaration together with their impact on the net position of the insurer. The insurer must provide details of actions taken or being taken to eliminate any gaps in reinsurance coverage.
Where an insurer complies with the ‘six month rule’ in accordance with paragraph 39, the reinsurance declaration must confirm that there are:
(a) no outstanding clauses, terms and conditions or other provisions yet to be agreed (that is, that no alterations or amendments to the contract are outstanding); and
(b) no differences in content or intention between the full treaty contract wording and the placing slip.
Where such differences exist, these must be detailed in the reinsurance declaration. The insurer must set out the corrective action(s) being undertaken to seek to eliminate these differences.
The ‘two month rule’
The ‘two month rule’ is that within two months after the inception date(s) of the insurer’s reinsurance arrangements:
(a) the insurer has a placing slip(s) pertaining to these reinsurance arrangements, which:
(i) has been signed and stamped by all participating reinsurers; and
(ii) contains slip wording or full treaty wording agreed to by the insurer, with no outstanding terms or conditions to be agreed;[11] or
(b) the insurer has a placing slip(s) pertaining to the reinsurance arrangements, which has been signed and stamped by all participating reinsurers, with no outstanding terms or conditions to be agreed;[12] or
(c) the insurer does not have a placing slip(s), but the insurer has a cover note(s) issued by the participating reinsurer(s) (in the case of direct placements with reinsurers) and/or from its appointed reinsurance broker (in the case of intermediated reinsurance placements). The insurer also must have systems to verify that the content of the cover note(s) is the same as the placing slip(s) agreed between the insurer and the reinsurer(s).[13]
The ‘six month rule’
The ‘six month rule’ is that within six months after the inception date(s) of the insurer’s reinsurance arrangements:
(a) the insurer complies with paragraph 38(a); or
(b) the insurer has in its possession a full treaty contract wording (including any appending contract wordings and/or schedules) that has been signed and stamped by all contracting parties, namely the insurer and all participating reinsurers.[14]
Reinsurance declaration qualification
Where the insurer is unable to state in its reinsurance declaration that it has complied with the ‘two month rule’ or the ‘six month rule’, the declaration must set out what alternate documentation is in place or, if there is no documentation, the reasons for this and what action the insurer is taking to seek to put this documentation in place.
Where the reinsurance arrangements attested to in the reinsurance declaration differ from those included in the insurer’s Reinsurance Statement submitted to APRA in accordance with paragraphs 23 to 28, the insurer or insurance group, as the case may be, must submit to APRA a revised Reinsurance Statement which reflects details of the amended arrangements that are in place. If the amended Reinsurance Statement also warrants a change in the insurer’s or insurance group’s REMS, the REMS must be reviewed and amended in accordance with paragraph 16.
Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements
An insurer must submit to APRA details of all proposed Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements[15] for approval prior to entering into such arrangements. Attachment A details the requirements for a submission for approval as well as the criteria APRA will apply.
APRA may approve a Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement as either a reinsurance arrangement or a financing arrangement.
APRA will generally consider a Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement to be a reinsurance arrangement where the purpose and effect of the arrangement is to genuinely transfer significant insurance risk from the insurer to another (re)insurer.
A Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement that is approved by APRA as a reinsurance arrangement must be treated accordingly by the insurer for prudential purposes.[16]
A Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement that is approved by APRA as a financing arrangement must be accounted for by the insurer so that:
(a) the arrangement has a legitimate purpose and effect; and
(b) the arrangement will not misrepresent, or is not designed to disguise, a material risk to the insurer’s current or continuing profitability, solvency or capital adequacy from any party.
The terms and conditions of the financing arrangement will determine the appropriate accounting treatment for prudential purposes.
Where APRA determines that a Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement is to be treated as a financing arrangement, the insurer must not treat the arrangement as reinsurance for the purpose of determining its minimum capital requirement under the capital standards or as reinsurance for any other purpose.
Transition arrangements
Any transitional relief granted under Prudential Standard GPS 230 Reinsurance Management made on 9 February 2006 continues in effect until the date of expiry specified by APRA when granting the relief or such other date as APRA may specify in writing.
Where an insurer has in place reinsurance arrangements that:
(a) pre-date 9 February 2006; and
(b) that it will not practically be able to document appropriately,
it may apply to APRA to have these reinsurance arrangements treated as complying with paragraph 30.
Determinations made under previous GPS 230
An approval, determination, direction or requirement made by APRA under a provision specified in Column 1 of the following table that is in operation immediately prior to the commencement of this Prudential Standard is taken, on and from the effective date, to have been made under the provision of this Prudential Standard specified in the same row of Column 2 of the table.
Column 1: Provision of Prudential Standard GPS 230 Reinsurance Management made on 9 February 2006
Column 2: Provision of this Prudential Standard
Paragraph 18(a): require one or more insurers within an insurance group to prepare and submit a separate REMS.
Paragraph 18(a)
Paragraph 18(b): require the preparation and submission of a REMS for a different insurance group within a corporate group.
Paragraph 18(b)
Paragraph 26(a): require one or more insurers within an insurance group to prepare and submit a separate Reinsurance statement.
Paragraph 26(a)
Paragraph 26(b): require the preparation and submission of a Reinsurance statement for a different insurance group within a corporate group
Paragraph 26(b)
Paragraph 31: treat existing reinsurance arrangements as complying with the ‘two month rule’ and ‘six month rule’.
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 43: approve an LRTA as a reinsurance arrangement or a financing arrangement.
Paragraph 43
Attachment A
Definition of Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements
Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements typically do not involve significant transfer of insurance risk over the life of the arrangement between the insurer and the reinsurer. An arrangement may involve one contract, or a combination of two or more individual contracts and/or side letters.
Such arrangements are often characterised by requirements placed on the insurer to mitigate any loss experienced by the reinsurer to this arrangement over a future period of time.
While the main purpose of such arrangements is usually financing, Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements can be used to affect the presentation of financial results. This can lead to a misrepresentation of the true prudential position of the insurer that may ultimately pose risks to policyholders.
Approval of Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements
At a minimum, the submission for approval must include:
(a) a draft contract wording or other draft proposed agreement and collateral or ‘side’ agreements, and any other documentation or information relevant to the transaction (including a written description of any verbal understandings and/or undertakings that are material to the operation of the arrangement); and
(b) details of the proposed accounting treatment and the effect of the proposed arrangement on the prudential statement of financial position and capital adequacy of the insurer for each reporting period and over the full period of the arrangement, certified by the Appointed Auditor.[17]
Where (a) is not available, the insurer must submit to APRA a comprehensive description of the proposed arrangement including details of any risk transfer and financing elements.
When seeking approval, the insurer must demonstrate to APRA that it has formal written policies and procedures addressing the purpose, nature and use of Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements. Specifically, the insurer must, at a minimum, demonstrate that:
(a) the purpose and effect of any Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement is fully understood;
(b) the associated risks have been identified and addressed;
(c) appropriate internal approvals have been identified and implemented;
(d) the Appointed Actuary and Appointed Auditor have indicated whether the arrangement, in their view, meets the description of a Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement as outlined above; and
(e) all documentation has been scrutinised by suitably qualified and experienced staff of the insurer.
APRA will only approve a Limited Risk Transfer Arrangement where the following criteria are met:
(a) the arrangement has a legitimate purpose and effect;
(b) the arrangement will not disguise, or is not designed to disguise, a material risk to the insurer’s current or continuing profitability, solvency or capital adequacy from any party;
(c) the financial costs and benefits of the arrangement, and the nature and potential quantum of any potential risks to policyholders, are reflected in the application for approval and the proposed accounting and disclosure arrangements;
(d) there will be no adverse effect on the insurer’s balance sheet and capital position in any one period or over the entire term of the arrangement;
(e) the insurer has reviewed the effect of the arrangement within the context of its overall risk management and control systems; and
(f) the arrangement will not adversely affect the interests of policyholders.
For applications which are approved, APRA will consider the nature and purpose of the arrangement and deem the arrangement to be either reinsurance or financing (as appropriate) for the purposes of:
(a) the calculation of the insurer’s minimum capital requirement; and
(b) reporting under reporting standards made under the Collection of Data Act.
APRA approvals of Limited Risk Transfer Arrangements will always be made in writing.