FICOM recommends posting financial statements to company Web sites

The Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM), BC’s provincial insurance regulator, is recommending all provincially regulated insurers post their audited financial statements on their Web sites within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year.

Under Section 130 of the Financial Institutions Act, provincial insurers are currently required to provide public access to financial information.

Under the rule, insurers must keep copies of financial statements at each branch or office, so that they are available for public scrutiny, but they are not required to post the information to their respective Web sites. 

“Public disclosure of reliable and timely information facilitates the understanding by prospective and existing policyholders of the financial position of insurers and the risks to which they are subject to,” a FICOM bulletin said.

“Also, when provided with appropriate information, markets can act efficiently, rewarding those insurers that operate effectively and penalizing those that do not. This aspect of market discipline serves as an adjunct to supervision.”

FICOM recognizes that some provincial insurers are already providing financial information to the public through company Web sites.

In order to facilitate the accessibility of financial information, FICOM’s Web site will provide a link to the audited financial statements posted on provincial insurers’ Web sites. Insurers are just asked to provide notice to FICOM when they have posted new financial information on their sites.