Insurers warned to prepare for capital adequacy requirements

Insurance companies must be ready for the FSA's capital adequacy requirements by January 2005, or face having limits imposed on them, warned insurance consultancy Moore Stephens.

CP190 requires insurers to have CAP forecasting and modelling procedures in place and to budget accordingly, by Moore Stephens said companies without these in place at the start of regulation would have limits imposed on them by the new regulator.

John Harbor, head of the Moore Stephens Insurance Industry Group, said: “For insurance companies and syndicates, the new directive will have far-reaching effects.

“Planning for compliance with the new regulations and putting calculations on a more formal basis should be well under way by now.

“Insurers need to bear in mind that this is not just a question of designing and installing the appropriate software.

“Staff must be fully familiar with the new system, and with the kinds of information that will be required for risk assessment.

“They will need to plan now, in the hard market, to meet the challenges of the soft market to come.”