Notice – Consultation Paper – Proposed Enhancements to the Regulatory Regime for Commercial Insurers: Revised Draft Rules and Guidance Notes (2023-09-08)

Summary

This is a BMA notice accompanying the second version of a consultation paper (CP2) on proposed enhancements to the regulatory regime for commercial insurers, focused primarily on long-term insurers and insurance groups. It announces publication of revised draft insurance rules and guidance notes that would transpose CP2's proposed changes into binding rules and guidance, and invites stakeholder comment before finalisation.

• Insurance group rule changes: Updates to Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement (BSCR) calculations, changes to the Section 6D framework under the Insurance Act, and revisions to technical provisions rules (scenario based approach and risk margin).
• Relocation of requirements: The Authority's existing technical provisions requirements are being moved from the guidance notes into the insurance rules themselves.
• New Section 6D guidance: Additional guidance is included to clarify application of the revised Section 6D rules based on CP2 proposals.
• Revised economic balance sheet guidance: The Guidance Notes for Commercial Insurers and Groups Statutory Reporting Regime are updated to reflect the technical provisions moved into rules and to give further application guidance.
• Scope of this publication: The draft rules and guidance released now cover insurance groups only; rules for other applicable commercial insurer classes will be published separately in due course.

This notice is informational and part of an ongoing consultation process; it does not itself impose final binding requirements, but sets deadlines for stakeholder feedback on both the underlying CP2 proposals and the newly published draft rules and guidance.

Key obligations

• Stakeholders wishing to comment on CP2 must submit feedback no later than 15 September 2023 (as previously set)
• Stakeholders wishing to comment on the newly published draft rules and guidance notes must submit comments to riskanalytics@bma.bm no later than 29 September 2023

Applies to

long-term commercial insurers, commercial insurers, insurance groups

Deadlines

• 15 September 2023: Deadline for stakeholder feedback on the CP2 consultation paper
• 29 September 2023: Deadline for stakeholder comments on the revised draft insurance rules and guidance notes, to be sent to riskanalytics@bma.bm