Life Insurance (prudential standard) determination No. 1 of 2009 - Prudential Standard LPS 510 - Governance
(a) the life company’s long‑term financi(a) the life company’s long‑term financial soundness; and
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This Prudential Standard is made under subsection 230A(1) of the Life Insurance Act 1995 (the Act).
Application
This Prudential Standard applies to all life companies, including friendly societies, registered under the Act.
Eligible foreign life insurance companies (EFLICs) have to comply with only those provisions of this Prudential Standard which specifically indicate that they apply to EFLICs.[1] The obligations imposed by this Prudential Standard, on or in relation to an EFLIC, only apply in relation to its Australian business. Attachment B to this Prudential Standard applies specifically to EFLICs.
The Board and senior management
The Board of directors (the Board) of a life company is ultimately responsible for the sound and prudent management of the life company. This Prudential Standard sets out the minimum requirements that a life company must meet in the interests of promoting strong and effective governance.
The Board of a life company must have a formal charter that sets out the roles and responsibilities of the Board.
The Board, in fulfilling its functions, may delegate authority to management to act on behalf of the Board with respect to certain matters, as decided by the Board. This delegation of authority must be clearly set out and documented. The Board must have mechanisms in place for monitoring the exercise of delegated authority. The Board cannot abrogate its responsibility for functions delegated to management.
The Board must ensure that directors and senior management of the life company, collectively, have the full range of skills needed for the effective and prudent operation of the life company, and that each director has skills that allow them to make an effective contribution to Board deliberations and processes. This includes the requirement for directors, collectively, to have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to understand the risks of the life company, including its legal and prudential obligations, and to ensure that the life company is managed in an appropriate way taking into account these risks. This does not preclude the Board from supplementing its skills and knowledge through the use of external consultants and experts.
Senior management of the life company (and senior management of an EFLIC), with responsibilities relating to the business in Australia, must be ordinarily resident in Australia.
Members of the Board and senior management (and senior management of the EFLIC) must be available to meet with APRA on request.
The Board must provide the Auditor and the Appointed Actuary[2] of the life company with the opportunity to raise matters directly with the Board (the Compliance Committee for an EFLIC).[3]
Independence
For the purposes of this Prudential Standard, an independent director is a non-executive director who is free from any business or other association – including those arising out of a substantial shareholding, involvement in past management or as a supplier, customer or adviser – that could materially interfere with the exercise of their independent judgement. The circumstances that will not meet this test of independence include, but are not limited to, those set out in Attachment A.
If the Board of a life company is in doubt regarding a director’s independence, the life company may refer the matter to APRA for guidance.
Definition of non-executive director
For the purposes of this Prudential Standard a reference to non-executive director is to be interpreted as meaning a director who is not a member of management.
Board composition
The Board of a life company must have a minimum of five directors at all times.
The Board must have a majority of independent directors at all times. For life companies that are subsidiaries[4] of other APRA-regulated institutions or overseas equivalents,[5] exceptions may apply as set out at paragraphs 24 to 26. For life companies that are subsidiaries of a parent company that is not prudentially regulated, exceptions may apply as set out at paragraph 27.
The chairperson of the Board must be an independent director of the life company.
A majority of directors present and eligible to vote at all Board meetings must be non-executives.
The chairperson of the Board cannot have been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the life company at any time during the previous three years. If the position of the CEO is unexpectedly vacated, the chairperson may serve as an interim CEO. After a period of 90 days, approval must be sought from APRA to allow this arrangement to continue.
The chairperson must be available to meet with APRA on request.
For locally-owned and incorporated life companies, a majority of directors must be ordinarily resident in Australia.
For foreign-owned locally incorporated life companies at least two of the directors of the life company must be ordinarily resident in Australia, at least one of whom must also be independent.
Board representation must be consistent with a life company’s shareholding. Where a shareholding constitutes not more than 15% cent of a life company’s voting shares there should not be more than one Board member who is an associate of the shareholder where the Board has up to six directors, and not more than two Board members who are associates of the shareholder where the Board has seven or more directors. A director is taken to be an associate of a shareholder for the purposes of this clause, if the director is an associate of the shareholder, or the shareholder is an associate of the director, according to the definition of associate in clause 4 of Schedule 1 of the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998. That definition is to be applied for the purposes of this clause as if subparagraph (1)(l) of that definition were omitted.
Where an individual shareholding is greater than 15%, as approved under the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998, the Board representation of that shareholding can be greater than allowed in paragraph 22, although it must still be broadly proportionate to the shareholding concerned.[6]
Life companies that are subsidiaries of other APRA-regulated institutions or overseas equivalents
For a life company that is a subsidiary of another APRA-regulated institution or an overseas equivalent, the Board of the life company must have a majority of non-executive directors, but these non-executive directors need not all be independent. They can include Board members or senior management of the parent company or its subsidiaries, but not executives of the life company or its subsidiaries.
A life company to which paragraph 24 applies will be required to have, at a minimum, two independent directors, in addition to an independent chairperson, where the Board has up to seven members. Where the Board has more than seven members, the life company will be required to have at least three independent directors, in addition to an independent chairperson.
For the purposes of meeting the requirements in paragraph 25, the independent directors on the Board of the parent company or its other subsidiaries can also sit as independent directors on the Board of the life company.
Subsidiaries with a parent that is not prudentially regulated
For a life company that is a subsidiary of another entity, not covered by the arrangements in paragraphs 24 to 26 of this Prudential Standard, the Board must have a majority of independent directors. However, independent directors on the Board of the parent company or its other subsidiaries can also sit as independent directors on the Board of the life company.
Life companies that are part of a corporate group
Where a life company is part of a corporate group[7] (group), and the life company utilises group policies or functions, the Board of the life company must ensure that these policies and functions give appropriate regard to the life company’s business and its specific requirements.
Joint ventures
For the purposes of this Prudential Standard, a life company that operates as a joint venture can be considered as part of the group of each parent entity. Independent directors of a parent can sit as independent directors on the Board of the joint venture entity. However, the general concessions available to subsidiaries in paragraphs 24 to 26 will not be available to joint ventures.
Remuneration Policy
A life company (including an EFLIC) must establish and maintain a written Remuneration Policy. The Remuneration Policy must outline the remuneration objectives and the structure of the remuneration arrangements, including but not limited to the performance-based remuneration components, of the life company.
The Remuneration Policy must be approved by the Board or, for an EFLIC, by the Compliance Committee with delegated authority from the Board.
For the purposes of this Prudential Standard, remuneration arrangements include measures of performance, the mix of forms of remuneration (such as fixed and variable components, and cash and equity-related benefits) and the timing of eligibility to receive payments. All forms of remuneration are captured by this Prudential Standard.
In addition to any other objectives, the Remuneration Policy’s performance-based components of remuneration must be designed to encourage behaviour that supports:
(a) the life company’s long‑term financial soundness; and
(b) the risk management framework of the life company.
The performance-based components of remuneration must be designed to align remuneration with prudent risk-taking and must incorporate adjustments to reflect:
(a) the outcomes of business activities;
(b) the risks related to the business activities taking account, where relevant, of the cost of the associated capital; and
(c) the time necessary for the outcomes of those business activities to be reliably measured.
The Remuneration Policy must provide for the Board or, for an EFLIC, the Compliance Committee, to adjust performance-based components of remuneration downwards, to zero if appropriate, in relation to persons or classes of persons, if such adjustments are necessary to:
(a) protect the financial soundness of the life company; or
(b) respond to significant unexpected or unintended consequences that were not foreseen by the Board Remuneration Committee or, for an EFLIC, the Compliance Committee.
The Remuneration Policy must set out who is covered by the Policy. The Remuneration Policy must cover, as a minimum:
(a) each responsible person, as that term is defined in LPS 520, excluding Auditors, external Appointed Actuaries, non-executive directors and in the case of an EFLIC, members of the Compliance Committee;
(b) persons whose primary role is risk management, compliance, internal audit, financial control or actuarial control (collectively “risk and financial control personnel”); and
(c) all other persons for whom a significant portion of total remuneration is based on performance and whose activities, individually or collectively, may affect the financial soundness of the life company.
A person will be included within one of the above categories if that person is: employed directly by the life company; retained directly by the life company under contract; employed by, or a contractor of, a body corporate (including a service company) that is a related body corporate of the life company; or, subject to paragraph 37, an entity that is not a related body corporate of the life company.
The Remuneration Policy must cover a service contract between a life company and an entity that is not a related body corporate of the life company, if:
(a) the primary role of the entity is to provide risk management, compliance, internal audit, financial control or actuarial control services to the life company; or
(b) the services provided by the entity, either individually or collectively with like services provided by other entities, may affect the financial soundness of the life company and, under the services contract with the life company, a significant portion of the total payment to the entity is based on performance.
However, the Remuneration Policy need not cover a service contract with such an entity if:
(i) the life company’s risk management framework explicitly addresses the structure of payments to entities of the relevant kind and the risk that payment incentives can give rise to inappropriate behaviour; and
(ii) oversight of this risk has been delegated to a Board Committee or, in the case of an EFLIC, the Compliance Committee.
APRA may determine in writing that an individual or class of individuals must be covered by the life company’s Remuneration Policy. APRA will notify such a determination to the life company.
The Remuneration Policy must prohibit persons covered by paragraph 36(a), who receive equity or equity-linked deferred remuneration from hedging their economic exposures to the resultant equity price risk before the equity-linked remuneration is fully vested and able to be sold for cash by the recipient. The Remuneration Policy must specify the actions to be taken where a person is found to have breached this requirement.
The Remuneration Policy must ensure that the structure of the remuneration of risk and financial control personnel, including performance-based components if any, does not compromise the independence of these personnel in carrying out their functions.
If a life company utilises a group Remuneration Policy, in terms of paragraph 28 of this Prudential Standard, its Board (or, in the case of an EFLIC, the Compliance Committee) must ensure that the group Remuneration Policy, modified as necessary for the life company, meets the requirements set out in this Prudential Standard for the life company. (For the avoidance of doubt, paragraph 28 of this Prudential Standard applies to EFLICs for the purpose of group Remuneration Policies).
The Remuneration Policy must form part of a life company’s risk management framework required under Prudential Standard LPS 220 Risk Management.
The Remuneration Policy must be provided to APRA on request.
Board Remuneration Committee
A life company (other than an EFLIC) must, unless otherwise approved in writing by APRA, have a Board Remuneration Committee that complies with the requirements of this Prudential Standard.
The Board Remuneration Committee must have at least three members. All members of the Committee must be non-executive directors of the life company. A majority of the members of the Committee must be independent. The chairperson of the Committee must be an independent director of the life company.
The Board Remuneration Committee must have a written charter and terms of reference that outline the Committee’s roles, responsibilities and terms of operation. The Remuneration Committee must be provided with the powers necessary to enable it to perform its functions.
The responsibilities of the Board Remuneration Committee must include:
(a) conducting regular reviews of, and making recommendations to the Board on, the Remuneration Policy. This must include an assessment of the Remuneration Policy’s effectiveness and compliance with the requirements of this Prudential Standard;
(b) making annual recommendations to the Board on the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), direct reports of the CEO, other persons whose activities may in the Board’s opinion affect the financial soundness of the life company, and any other person specified by APRA; and
(c) making annual recommendations to the Board on the remuneration of the categories of persons covered by the Remuneration Policy (other than those persons for whom such recommendations are already required under paragraph 47(b)).
The Board Remuneration Committee, or in the case of an EFLIC, the Compliance Committee, must:
(a) have free and unfettered access to risk and financial control personnel and other parties (internal and external) in carrying out its duties; and
(b) if choosing to engage third-party experts, have power to do so in a manner that ensures that the engagement, including any advice received, is independent.
Where a life company is part of a corporate group, the Board of the life company may use a group Board Remuneration Committee in order to meet the requirements of paragraph 44 of this Prudential Standard, provided that the other requirements set out in this Prudential Standard are met and the Board of the life company has unfettered access to the group Board Remuneration Committee.
For EFLICs, the Compliance Committee must:
(a) conduct regular reviews of, and make decisions in relation to, the Remuneration Policy. This must include an assessment of the Remuneration Policy’s effectiveness and compliance with the requirements of this Prudential Standard;
(b) make annual decisions on the remuneration of the Head of the Australian branch operation, direct reports to that person, other persons whose activities may in the opinion of the Compliance Committee affect the financial soundness of the life company, and any other person specified by APRA;
(c) make annual decisions on the remuneration of the categories of persons covered by the Remuneration Policy (other than those persons for whom such recommendations are already required under paragraph 50(b)).
Members of the Board Remuneration Committee must be available to meet with APRA on request.
Board Audit Committee
A life company (including an EFLIC) must have a Board Audit Committee, which assists the Board by providing an objective non-executive review of the effectiveness of the life company’s financial reporting and risk management framework unless, with respect to risk management, there is another Board Committee which carries out this function.
The Board Audit Committee must have sufficient powers to enable it to obtain all information necessary for the performance of its functions.
The Board Audit Committee must have at least three members. All members of the Committee must be non-executive directors of the life company.[8] A majority of the members of the Committee must be independent.
The chairperson of the Board Audit Committee must be an independent director of the life company.
The chairperson of the Board can sit on the Board Audit Committee, but cannot chair the Committee.
The Board Audit Committee must have a charter that includes a reference to the fact that the Committee is responsible for the oversight of APRA statutory reporting requirements, as well as other financial reporting requirements, professional accounting requirements, internal and external audit, and the appointment of the life company’s auditor.
The Board Audit Committee must review the auditor’s engagement at least annually, including making an assessment of whether the auditor meets the Audit Independence tests set out in APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants,[9] as well as the additional auditor independence requirements set out in this Prudential Standard. For an EFLIC, it will be the responsibility of the Compliance Committee to undertake this assessment.
The Board Audit Committee must regularly review the internal and external audit plans, ensuring that they cover all material risks and financial reporting requirements of the life company. It must regularly review the findings of audits, and ensure that issues are being managed and rectified in an appropriate and timely manner.
The Board Audit Committee must ensure the adequacy and independence of both the internal and external audit functions.
The members of the Board Audit Committee must, at all times, have free and unfettered access to senior management, the internal auditor, the heads of all risk management functions, the life company’s Auditor, and the Appointed Actuary and vice versa.
The Board Audit Committee must establish and maintain policies and procedures for employees of the life company to submit, confidentially, information about accounting, internal control, compliance, audit, and other matters about which the employee has concerns. The Committee should also have a process for ensuring employees are aware of these policies and for dealing with matters raised by employees under these policies.
Members of the Board Audit Committee must be available to meet with APRA on request.
The Board Audit Committee must invite the life company’s Auditor and Appointed Actuary to meetings of the Committee.
The internal auditor must have a reporting line and unfettered access to the Board Audit Committee. For EFLICs, the auditor of the local operation must have direct access to the Head Office audit function.
Internal audit
A life company (including an EFLIC in relation to its Australian business) must have an independent and adequately resourced internal audit function. If a life company does not believe it is necessary to have a dedicated internal audit function, it must apply to APRA, in writing, seeking an exemption from this requirement, and set out reasons why it should be exempt. APRA may approve alternative arrangements for a life company where APRA is satisfied that they will achieve the same objectives.
The objectives of the internal audit function must include evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of the financial and risk management framework of the life company (including an EFLIC). To fulfil its functions, the internal auditor must, at all times, have unfettered access to all the life company’s business lines and support functions.
Auditor independence
The Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004 introduced a number of new requirements into the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) in relation to auditor independence. The auditor independence requirements in this Prudential Standard are substantially consistent with those requirements, and are intended to help ensure the independence of an auditor engaged to perform work of a prudential nature in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards and the Reporting Standards.[10]
The Board of a life company (and the Compliance Committee in the case of an EFLIC) must, to the extent practical, undertake steps to satisfy itself that the auditor, who undertakes work for the life company (or EFLIC) in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards, or the Reporting Standards, is independent of the life company (or EFLIC),[11] and that there is no conflict of interest situation that could compromise, or be seen to compromise, the independence of the auditor.
As part of the process of ascertaining the independence of the auditor, a life company (including an EFLIC) must obtain a declaration from the auditor to the effect that the auditor is independent, both in appearance and in fact, and has no conflict of interest situation, and that there is nothing to the auditor’s knowledge (either in relation to the individual auditor or any audit firm or audit company of which the auditor is a member or director) that could compromise that independence.
For the purposes of this Prudential Standard, a conflict of interest situation exists in relation to a life company (or EFLIC) at a particular time, if because of circumstances that exist at that time:
(a) the auditor is not capable of exercising objective and impartial judgement in relation to the conduct of the work that is undertaken for the life company (or EFLIC) in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards or the Reporting Standards; or
(b) a reasonable person, with full knowledge of all relevant facts and circumstances, would conclude that the auditor is not capable of exercising objective and impartial judgement in relation to undertaking the work for the life company (or EFLIC) for the purposes of the Act, the Prudential Standards, or the Reporting Standards.[12]
72. A person, who was a member of an audit firm or a director of an audit company, and who served in a professional capacity in the audit of a life company (including an EFLIC) in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards or the Reporting Standards, cannot be appointed to the role of director or senior manager of that life company until at least two years have passed since they served in that professional capacity.
A person, who was an employee of an audit company, other than a director of that company, and who acted as the lead auditor[13] or review auditor[14] in the audit of a life company (including an EFLIC) in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards or the Reporting Standards, cannot be appointed to the role of director or senior manager of that life company until at least two years have passed since they acted as the lead auditor or review auditor.
74. A person cannot be appointed as a director or senior manager of a life company (or a senior manager in the case of an EFLIC) if:
(a) the person was, or is, a director of the audit company or a member of the audit firm that was, or is, responsible for the audit of the life company in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards or the Reporting Standards; and
(b) there is already another person employed as a director or senior manager of the life company who was a director of the audit company or a member of the audit firm, at a time when the audit company or audit firm undertook an audit of the life company at any time during the previous two years.
An individual who plays a significant role[15] in the audit of a life company (including an EFLIC) in relation to the Act, the Prudential Standards or the Reporting Standards, for five successive years, or for more than five years out of seven successive years, cannot continue to play a significant role in the audit until at least a further two years have passed, except with an exemption from APRA. APRA may grant an exemption from this requirement if the individual provides specialist services that are otherwise not readily available or there are no other registered company auditors available to provide satisfactory services for the life company.
For the purposes of maintaining their independence and objectivity, the Auditor and Appointed Actuary of a life company (including an EFLIC), cannot both be employed by the same body corporate or related bodies corporate, or by the same firm or related firms.[16]
Board performance assessment
The Board of a life company must have procedures for assessing, at least annually, the Board’s performance relative to its objectives. It must also have in place a procedure for assessing, at least annually, the performance of individual directors.
Board renewal
The Board of a life company must have in place a formal policy on Board renewal. This policy must provide details of how the Board intends to renew itself in order to ensure it remains open to new ideas and independent thinking, while retaining adequate expertise. The policy must give consideration to whether directors have served on the Board for a period which could, or could reasonably be perceived to, materially interfere with their ability to act in the best interests of the life company.
Persons not to be constrained from providing information to APRA[17]
No prospective, current, or former officer,[18] employee or contractor (including professional service provider) of a life company (including an EFLIC), may be constrained or impeded, whether by confidentiality clauses or other means, from disclosing information to APRA, from discussing issues with APRA of relevance to the management and prudential supervision of the life company, or from providing documents under their control to APRA, that may be relevant in the context of the management or prudential supervision of the life company. Such persons are not to be constrained or impeded from providing information to auditors, the Appointed Actuary and others, who have statutory responsibilities in relation to the life company.
Life companies (including EFLICs) must ensure that their internal policy and contractual arrangements do not explicitly or implicitly restrict or discourage auditors or other parties from communicating with APRA.
Commencement and transitional arrangements
This Prudential Standard commences on 1 April 2010.
Upon commencement of this Prudential Standard, the existing governance requirements contained in Prudential Standard LPS 510 Governance will cease to have effect.
A life company may be unable to comply immediately with some requirements in paragraphs 30 to 51 of this Prudential Standard, relating to Remuneration, due to the need to impose or negotiate appropriate terms and conditions in employment and service contracts. If the life company has notified APRA of this matter, in writing, prior to the commencement of this Prudential Standard, providing all relevant details, those particular requirements do not apply to that life company on commencement of this Prudential Standard. However, those requirements will apply to the life company as soon as the appropriate terms and conditions can be imposed or negotiated, and in any event no later than 31 March 2013.
Adjustments and exclusions
APRA may by notice in writing to a life company adjust or exclude a specific prudential requirement in this Prudential Standard in relation to that life company.[19]
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