Update on the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill

The Government introduced the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill (Bill) into Parliament in late October 2009. The Bill contained numerous changes arising out of the Reserve Bank consultation process. In this article we look at the key changes, many of which have seen an improvement to the proposed legislation.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released a consultation draft of the Bill earlier this year. We summarised the main features of the draft Bill in our May 2009 NZ Update, which you can find by clicking here.

The key changes to the Bill arising out of the Reserve Bank's consultation process are as follows:

• The Bill inserts a definition of 'contract of insurance'. This is welcome, as the present law could be clearer as to what amounts to a contract of insurance.