SECP holds industry meeting-cum-webinar on Risk Based Capital Regime for Insurance Sector

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) held a session for the insurance industry participants to provide an overview of the Risk Based Capital (RBC) Regime and walk-through of the recently disseminated RBC templates.

The meeting was attended by the CEOs, finance and risk professionals of insurance industry. The webinar was attended online by actuarial representatives and accounting experts from the Pakistan Society of Actuaries and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

Mr. Aamir Khan – Commissioner Insurance, apprised the participants of the importance of alignment of currently applicable solvency regime with the international standards. He informed that with the adoption of a more risk-based approach to capital and solvency requirement in the region and internationally, Pakistan is now being seen as an outlier by global insurance industry. As part of the strategic plan, he expressed his intent in leveraging the alignment of valuation of insurance liabilities, the financial reporting under IFRS 17 and the RBC regime, which are the key priority areas of five-year strategic plan.

Mr. Falak S.H. Soomro, Advisor Insurance at SECP, provided an overview of the RBC implementation journey, including the development of the concept paper in December 2022 and the RBC template shared with the industry for data analysis. Falak informed participants that the RBC template is to assist the companies in evaluating their risk exposures, conduct risk-based capital requirements analysis (commonly referred to as Quantitative Impact Study), and complete model-validation process. A walk-through of the RBC templates with regard to its technicalities and operationalities of the model was presented. The importance of further consultations with industry to enhance the underlying work, such as parameter calibrations, comparative impact on solvency regimes and finalization of the broader framework was also highlighted.

The session was characterized by questions and observations of the industry where Mr. Soomro, alongside professionals and participants deliberated on the RBC regime, the templates and the way forward. Mr. Aamir Khan requested the participants to play a collaborative role in the successful implementation of RBC regime in Pakistan and asked participants to share questions related to RBC template for onward circulation of FAQs as mutual efforts.