Prescribed capital amounts, insurance risk charges and other complex financial data concerning life insurers will be published by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under a new ruling.

In a letter to life insurers last week, APRA advised certain life insurance data collected under Section 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act will be non-confidential.

The move is part of reforms to the regulator’s general and life insurance data publications, which began in 2013 and have resulted in lengthy industry consultations.

In its latest ruling, APRA has determined data held by life insurers on income, profits and policy liabilities will not be confidential. It will continue to treat product data as confidential, because it has yet to make a decision in this area and will consult further on it.

“APRA is not entirely convinced by the arguments against the data being non-confidential and the commercial detriment it could cause,” the letter says.

“Where APRA has determined data to be non-confidential, this decision was made on the basis that the public benefit from disclosure clearly outweighs any detriment to commercial interests that the disclosure may cause.”