APRA’s role – or lack of it – in the HIH collapse has brought calls for a regulatory overhaul from Australia’s leading corporate risk organisation.

Bruce Ferguson, President of the Association of Risk & Insurance Managers of Australasia (ARIMA), said the APRA legislation must be overhauled “to ensure the market knows what’s going on, so we never again get caught in such a mess”.

“We need a watchdog with more teeth, and one that barks more often,” he said. “It’s futile to have a regulatory system which is either not armed with the information the market requires or is unable to pass it on to insurance buyers.”

Mr Ferguson also wants APRA to review all major insurers’ financial status to ensure there are no other underwriters in danger of collapsing. While he agreed the information put out by the ratings organisations is useful, he said it was not sufficiently current “to ensure we do not get caught in traps like the HIH debacle”.