Reserve Bank holds back review of Insurance Act
The Reserve Bank has been working on a review of the law since 2016.
It has proposed increasing insurers’ disclosure requirements to be in line with those of banks, and providing the ability to alter insurers’ capital requirements in response to businesses’ individual circumstances.
But the bank has now deferred external-facing work on the review, as well as a range of other projects, for an initial period of six months.
Reserve Bank deputy governor Geoff Bascand said the Reserve Bank and other agencies are working closely to help ensure that New Zealand’s financial markets operate smoothly and effectively, and that credit is available to households and businesses.
“In such uncertain times, it is important that firms have as much capacity as possible to deal with critical problems as they arise.
“So it makes sense for regulators to free up financial institutions to focus on matters such as helping customers through financial or other stress, or increasing their degree of monitoring and managing their own most urgent risks.
“Some regulatory initiatives require regular industry-wide workshops and these are not feasible at the moment.”
