Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
No. 6 of 2005
Prudential Rules No. 49 - Contract Classification for the
purpose of regulatory reporting to APRA
I, John Francis Laker, Chair of APRA, under subsection 252(1) of the Life Insurance Act 1995
(the Act):
• MAKE the Prudential Rules No. 49 set out in the Schedule for the purposes of subsection
82(5), paragraph 117(2)(d) and subsections 117(3), 244(1) and 244(2) of the Act.
This Determination shall take effect upon registration on the Federal Register of Legislative
Instruments.
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Interpretation
In this Determination
Schedule
Prudential Rules No. 49 comprise the 5 pages commencing on the following page.
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Prudential Rules No. 49
Contract Classification for the purpose of regulatory
reporting to APRA
These prudential rules are made under subsection 252(1) of the Life Insurance Act
1995 (the Act) for the purposes of subsection 82(5), paragraph 117(2)(d) and
subsections 117(3), 244(1) and 244(2) of the Act and apply to life companies
registered under the Act (including friendly societies).
Interpretation
Actuarial standard means an actuarial standard made by the LIASB under the Act
AASB 139 means Australian Accounting Standard AASB 139 Financial Instruments:
Recognition and Measurement
AASB 1023 means Australian Accounting Standard AASB 1023 General Insurance
Contracts
AASB 1038 means Australian Accounting Standard AASB 1038 Life Insurance
Contracts
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Deposit component means a contractual component that is not accounted for as a
derivative under AASB 139 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
and would be within the scope of AASB 139 if it were a separate instrument.
(a) that are likely to be a significant portion of the total contractual benefits;
(b) whose amount or timing is contractually at the discretion of the issuer; and
(iii) the profit or loss of the company, fund or other entity that issues the
contract
Insurance contract means a contract under which one party (‘the life company’)
accepts significant insurance risk from another party (‘the policyholder’) by agreeing
to compensate the policyholder if a specified future event (‘the insured event’)
adversely affects the policyholder. Insurance risk is significant if, and only if, an
insured event could cause a insurer to pay significant additional benefits in any
scenario, excluding scenarios that lack commercial substance. More detailed
guidance on the application of the definition of an insurance contract is contained in
an appendix to AASB 1038.
(a) an Insurance Contract that is regulated under the Act, or similar contracts
issued by entities operating outside Australia; or
Life investment contract means any contract governed by the Act that does not meet
the definition of a Life Insurance Contract.
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Regulatory reporting means all forms of reporting to APRA under the Act in the
form stipulated by Prudential Rules.
Valuation standard means the actuarial standard made by the LIASB under which
contracts are to be valued as required by subsection 114(2) of the Act
Application
3. Under IFRS, the accounting treatment for a contract issued by a life company is
determined on the basis of the benefits that the contract offers to the
policyholder. A life company that offers different products (e.g. risk products
and unit-linked investment products) is required to account for these products
under different accounting standards. This differentiation will extend to the
valuation of the liabilities of the products for regulatory reporting purposes
under the Act.
(a) Life insurance contracts - which are treated in accordance with the
requirements of AASB 1038;
(b) General insurance contracts - which are treated under AASB 1023
General Insurance Contracts or AASB 4 Insurance Contracts; and
(c) Life investment contracts - which are treated under AASB 139 Financial
Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, to the extent that they give
rise to financial assets or financial liabilities, and AASB 118 Revenue to
the extent that they also involve the provision of management services.
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Contract classifications for regulatory reporting purposes
6. For the purpose of applying the Valuation Standard, the definitions of life
insurance contract, life investment contract, insurance contract and discretionary
participation feature are to be the same as the definitions applying under AASB
1038.
8. However, Prudential Rules No. 22 sets out criteria for defining certain benefits
as non-participating under the Act which may also be of assistance in assessing
whether the extent of discretion available under a contract is significant for the
purpose of establishing whether the contract contains a discretionary
participation feature.
11. Some contracts contain elements of both insurance contracts and deposits (i.e.
investment contracts, with or without a discretionary participation feature).
Sections 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 of AASB1038 permit such contracts to be unbundled
into separate insurance contracts and deposit components if (and only if) the
deposit component can be measured separately. However, the life company is
not required to unbundle, and may therefore treat the entire contract as a life
insurance contract if it so wishes.
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12. For regulatory reporting purposes, the following contracts must not be
unbundled:
(b) participating contracts with insurance riders, where the profits on the
riders are deemed to be in respect of participating business and so
allocated between policyholders and shareholders.
13. If not in conflict with rule 12 then, for regulatory reporting purposes, a contract
must be unbundled if it can be split for the purpose of recognising premium
revenue and claims expense under section 5 of AASB 1038.
14. If not in conflict with rule 12 then, for regulatory reporting purposes, where a
contract contains both investment linked and discretionary investment benefit
options, they must be unbundled as separate deposit components, with the
associated service components apportioned between them.
15. If not in conflict with rule 12 then, for regulatory reporting purposes, an option
to make future investments into a discretionary investment benefit option should
be unbundled and, if necessary, separately valued.