Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 9 of 2008

Overview

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 9 of 2008, enacted on 29 July 2008, was introduced to enable the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to disclose, including by way of publication in industry bulletins, certain information provided by general insurers to APRA. This information is deemed useful to regulators, policymakers, industry, researchers, analysts, and other interested parties. The determination was enacted under the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act), section 57, and was developed following consultations with relevant stakeholders to balance the protection of commercially sensitive information with the public interest in releasing data that enhances understanding of the financial strength of individual insurers and the broader insurance market. The determination applies to all general insurers operating in Australia, including foreign general insurers through branch operations.

Scope and Application

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 9 of 2008 applies to all general insurers, including foreign general insurers operating in Australia through branch operations, and pertains to specific reporting standards outlined in the appendix of the determination. These reporting standards, made under section 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001, are designated to ensure that certain financial and operational data provided to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is considered non-confidential and can be disclosed for regulatory, policymaking, industry, research, and analytical purposes. The determination seeks to balance the protection of commercially sensitive information held by general insurers with the public interest in obtaining transparency and insight into the financial stability of the insurance industry. The scope of the determination includes various financial and performance-related data, but excludes data relating to classes of business as specified in the appendix, following consultations with the industry to address concerns about the release of commercially sensitive information.

Key Provisions

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 9 of 2008 (Determination No. 9) was made to facilitate the disclosure of information provided by general insurers to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) (sections 1 and 3). This determination was enacted to allow APRA to release certain information that is of use to regulators, policymakers, industry, researchers, analysts and other interested parties, including through publication in industry bulletins (section 1). The information covered by this determination is that provided under the reporting standards listed in the appendix, which were submitted to APRA prior to the date of the determination (section 3). Determination No. 9 applies to all general insurers, including foreign general insurers operating in Australia through branch operations (section 4). APRA is required to consult with relevant entities or bodies, or their representative association, before determining whether a document given to APRA contains confidential information (section 5). Such consultations must provide the relevant entities or bodies, or their representative association, with a reasonable opportunity to make representations as to whether the information is confidential and take such representations into account (section 5). For Determination No. 9, APRA commenced consultations in relation to the proposed determination by writing to all authorised general insurers on 30 September 2005 (section 8). APRA received 17 submissions from general insurers and insurance groups and 14 submissions from other interested organisations (section 8). Based on the feedback received, APRA revised the proposed determination to exclude all reporting standards and related forms which cover data relating to classes of business (section 8). APRA considers that Determination No. 9 strikes the appropriate balance between protecting general insurers’ commercially sensitive information and the public interest in releasing data that will enable the public to gain a greater understanding of the financial strength of individual insurers and offer further insight into the Australian insurance market (section 9). Under section 56 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act), it is an offence against s 56(2) of the Act to disclose information in a reporting document given to APRA under s 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (Collection of Data Act) where APRA has determined that the document contains confidential information. However, Determination No. 9 provides that information given to APRA under the reporting standards listed in the appendix prior to the date of the determination is non-confidential (section 3). APRA is therefore permitted to disclose this information, including by way of publication in industry bulletins (section 1). This disclosure must be carried out in accordance with the terms of the Determination and any relevant legislation. The maximum penalty for offences under the APRA Act is set out in section 15 of that Act and is 500 penalty units, or in the case of a continuing failure to comply with a provision of the Act, 100 penalty units for each day on which the contravention occurs.