General and life insurance holding companies are covered in the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) prudential framework.

In draft prudential standards, the regulator includes “non-operating holding companies authorised under the Insurance Act” for general insurers.

For life companies, the new standards apply to friendly societies and eligible foreign life companies, plus non-operating holding companies.

The standards will be overseen by the APRA regulation institution, now defined as the “head of a group”.

This head must comply with all new standards and ensure they are applied “appropriately through the group”.

But ultimate responsibility for oversight will fall on insurers’ boards undertaking “sound and prudent management” of the standards.

Some board committees, such as remuneration, audit and risk, meet some governance standards, APRA says.

To the disappointment of many insurers, the regulator continues to insist chief risk officers cannot oversee risk management duties under the new standards.

The head of a group must submit copies of various risk management policies to APRA.

The risk management standard is largely unchanged since the last year of consultation in 2014. Similarly, rules concerning prudential management of outsourcing some insurer activities remain the same as the original draft.

When the overseas operations of Australian insurers outsource services in the country in which they operate, that will fall outside the standard.

The industry can comment on changes to the draft prudential standards before May 13.

APRA intends the standards to take effect on July 1 next year.