Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
October 07, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Ceding companies and reinsurers could be freed from the strictures of current regulations if a new principles-based reserving system is put in place, according to a presentation made by actuaries to state insurance regulators.
Risk transfer would still continue to be captured, but would be reflected in financial statements and models that assess the risks in those statements, explained Sheldon Summers, representing the American Academy of Actuaries, Washington, during the fall meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo. Summers is also a life actuary with the California insurance department.
Currently, reserving for life reinsurance requires that companies follow the strictures of regulations such as Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles 61 and Appendix A791, Summers explains. Both are part of the NAIC’s Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual.
However, according to a paper presented by the Academy to the Life & Health Actuarial Task Force, with the new PBR approach, “the only questions should be ‘What is indemnified?’ and ‘What’s that worth?’ given statutory stochastic assumptions.”
LHATF adopted a motion to expose the document for comment.
The report says current regulations use a limited number of factors set by law, including mortality and interest rates. And, it explains that a reinsurance reserve credit is taken for the reinsured business even though cash flows under the agreement may behave differently than the reserve assumptions.
