The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) says only minor issues have been raised by the insurance industry regarding its new capital standards.

APRA received more than 140 written submissions during the consultation process and more than 100 insurers participated in quantitative impact studies.

The regulator also met with a number of insurers to discuss its proposals.

APRA Member Ian Laughlin says insurance industry submissions were broadly supportive.

“Taking the package as a whole, the feedback from the latest round of submissions was mainly focused on relatively minor and technical matters, as might be expected at the end of a multi-year consultation process,” he said.

“A small number of amendments have been made in response to improve the clarity of APRA’s requirements.”

Some submissions raised concerns that the draft standards did not allow dividend reinvestment plans (DRPs) or bonus option plans to be offset against declared current-year dividends.

It was feared APRA’s approach would distort the capital position for the period between dividend declaration and the date shares are issued.

The regulator has revised its position to allow new shares bought under DRPs to offset declared dividends.

The estimated take-up rate for DRPs must be agreed in advance with APRA and reviewed every two years.

Other minor changes have been made to tier one and two capital requirements, including the treatment of charges and assets.

Mr Laughlin says insurers are now working to meet the revised framework and should “discuss any implementation issues with APRA as early as possible”.

APRA will release final reporting forms for the framework at the end of this month. The regulations come into effect on January 1.