Allianz has flagged increasing supervision, legislation and solvency requirements as challenges for the year ahead.

“This ties up a lot of resources and could potentially lead to higher capital adequacy requirements for Allianz,” Chairman Michael Diekmann says in the German global insurer’s annual report.

“In our opinion, our strong capital position already covers such higher capital adequacy requirements.”

The report says public scrutiny of the financial services industry is greater than ever, with record fines on banks and continuing discussion about ensuring good advice, particularly for life and pension products.

Economic growth differs markedly between Allianz’s core European markets and emerging economies, and last year’s results were dampened by euro appreciation.

Australian operations reported gross written premium of €2.85 billion ($4.39 billion) last year.

Allianz says a 5% internal increase was due to new customers and higher prices in motor and property.