Workers’ comp changes become law
05 December 2011
The Federal Government’s bill reversing changes to workers’ compensation introduced by the Howard government has been passed…
Regulatory & Government
Correction:
05 December 2011
On November 28 we published a report (“Strata title insurance concerns referred to ACCC”), in which Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch named several major insurers which he said had left the north Queensland…
FOFA bill No 2 spells out ‘best interest’ requirements
28 November 2011
The Federal Government has quietly slipped into Parliament the second tranche of the Future of Financial Advice reforms defining “best interest” obligations…
Strata title insurance concerns referred to ACCC
28 November 2011
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been asked to investigate lack of competition and the dominance of Zurich General Insurance in the north Queensland residential…
NZ Earthquake Royal Commission to hear of major building collapses
28 November 2011
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission today begins public hearings into the collapse of major city buildings in the February 22 earthquake…
NZ to press ahead with post-election ACC privatisation
28 November 2011
The New Zealand Government will proceed with opening up its personal injury compensation system to competition following the National Party’s re-election at the weekend…
MoneySmart urges insurance checks before big cyclone season
28 November 2011
Consumer advice website MoneySmart is urging homeowners to review their insurance following the Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast of higher than normal cyclone activity for the cyclone season…
Some agreement on account balances in contracts
28 November 2011
International accounting standards boards have agreed to separate explicit account balances from insurance contract liability…
FOFA bill off to another committee
21 November 2011
The Future of Financial Advice bill has become bogged down in another parliamentary inquiry…
ASIC to investigate comparison sites
21 November 2011
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has put general insurance comparison sites next on its review agenda…
Submissions to APRA go public
21 November 2011
Future submissions to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority consultations will be made public, but organisations will be able to request all or part of their submission remains confidential…
Liquidity rules for insurers defined by APRA
21 November 2011
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released guidelines on how it wants the Basel III liquidity reforms implemented…
ASIC proposes new rules for research houses
21 November 2011
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission wants life insurance research houses to separate their consulting operations from analytical services…
Low premiums give Victoria competitive advantage, says WorkSafe chief
21 November 2011
WorkSafe Victoria will have the lowest premiums in the country next year, giving the state a great competitive advantage, Chairman Elana Rubin says in the agency’s annual report…
Enforce, communicate and monitor, new regulator told
21 November 2011
New Zealanders want their Financial Markets Authority to ensure effective enforcement, better communication with market participants and active monitoring of the market…
Scaled advice not worth the cost, say insurers
14 November 2011
The general insurance industry isn’t willing to provide personal advice on its products because it would be too expensive, according to the Insurance Council of Australia…
Drop stamp duty on insurance, says Victorian commission
14 November 2011
The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission has told the Victorian Government it should develop and implement an agenda for reforming state taxes, including stamp duty taxes on insurance…
WorkCover NSW ‘must act to reduce deficit’
14 November 2011
The NSW WorkCover scheme may need to increase premium rates to reduce its $2.4 billion deficit, Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat says in his annual report…
NSW Auditor-General urges action on HIH builders’ insurance
14 November 2011
NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat has raised concerns about the growing liability of HIH claims managed by the NSW Building Insurers’ Guarantee Corporation…
Comparison platforms worry APRA
07 November 2011
General insurance price comparison platforms and their impact on insurers’ profitability has come under scrutiny by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority…