A stable, well-functioning financial market for allA stable, well-functioning financial market for allSupervision of insurance undertakings
FI has observed deficiencies in the insurance undertakings' practical management of surplus and in their internal guidelines for and information to their customers about their surplus management.
Clear guidelines and clear information about the distribution procedure are required in order for an individual customer to be able to determine if the distribution of the surplus is fair, and for FI to be able to verify that the undertaking actually follows the principles that have been established for how it should manage surplus.
The manner is in which life insurance undertakings are handling the low-rate environment continues to be a central focus of FI's supervision. FI's investigations show that the undertakings have the capacity to handle continued low interest rates, although the state of the market also means that they are more vulnerable to other risks.
FI has also observed that the low interest rates introduce risks related to the undertakings' surplus management. In general, the low interest rates place high demands on the insurance undertakings' risk management and corporate governance.
