PACICC calls for improved provincial financial reporting standards

The Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACICC) is planning to encourage legislative reforms that would align the financial reporting standards of provincially supervised insurance companies with those of federal and international solvency regulators.
“PACICC continues to advocate improved public disclosure of insurance company financial information,” PACICC board member Robin Spencer said in remarks to the guarantee fund’s annual general meeting in Toronto. “In particular, public information reporting on the financial health of provincially supervised insurance companies falls short of the standard set by OSFI [the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions] for federally supervised insurers — both in terms of timelines and in the extent of information available.
“The case for improved financial disclosure is a strong one: the International Association of Insurance Supervisors recommends disclosure and transparency as an important means of informing insurance consumers; and the evolving body of standards known as IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) that is due to be implemented in 2011 clearly points towards better disclosure…”
PACICC president and CEO Paul Kovacs said in 2010 “our focus will turn to strengthening provincial solvency supervision, comparing the solvency supervisory systems for federal and provincially licensed insurers in Canada to the standards recommended by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.”
In the meantime, Spencer applauded the Alberta regulator’s recent action to post interim financial results on the Alberta Finance and Enterprise Ministry Web site for the insurance companies that the province supervises.
“PACICC views this as a very positive development and we have commended Alberta for its leadership,” he said. “We continue to urge the other provinces to take similar action.”