Canadian insurance regulators are focused on enhancing consumer protection, developing a framework to regulate emerging technologies and harmonizing regulation across Canada, according to the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators’ (CCIR) new three-year strategic plan.
The 2017-20 strategic plan, published on Tuesday, outlines three main priorities for the council, which is comprised of insurance regulatory authorities from the provinces, territories and federal government.
The first priority is to enhance consumer protection. That includes efforts to improve the fair treatment of customers by reviewing areas such as client relationships, sales incentives and the content and timing of disclosure provided to customers.
The second priority is to work collaboratively with regulatory partners to “grow and leverage national regulatory capacity,” including developing a framework for the regulation of emerging technologies in insurance and financial services.
Third, the regulators plan to continue to explore opportunities for harmonization to achieve greater consistency across jurisdictions.
The CCIR will also continue its segregated fund project, which involves a review of the regulatory landscape and assessing potential regulatory arbitrage with these products.
In addition, it plans to continue developing a Canadian market conduct regime that reflects the standards that the International Association of Insurance Supervisors have set out, which are known as the Insurance Core Principles.
“The work the CCIR has done over the last three years has had a considerable impact on the evolution of insurance regulation in Canada. We have developed the foundation for greater collaboration, co-operation and information sharing among our members and introduced stronger supervisory partnerships,” said Patrick Déry, chairman of the CCIR, in a statement. “The 2017-20 strategic plan will leverage these efforts and build upon that foundation moving forward.”
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