APRA hits Allianz with additional capital requirement
General insurer Allianz Australia Limited has become the fifth entity to have additional capital requirements imposed on it by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
The regulator said it would be imposing an additional $250 million capital requirement to Allianz Australia Limited to reflect the issues identified in the insurer’s risk governance self-assessment.
APRA said that the additional capital requirement flowed from the self-assessment undertaken by Allianz and other insurers and superannuation licensees last year in the wake of APRA’s prudential inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank.
It said it had advised Allianz that the extra $250 million capital requirement would remain in place until the insurer completed remediation work underway to strengthen risk management, and closed gaps identified in its self-assessment.
The APRA release said Allianz had become the fifth APRA-regulated entity to have an additional capital requirement imposed due to heightened operational risk.
Commenting on the move, APRA Executive Board Member Geoff Summerhayes said APRA’s decision sent a message to all insurers.
“The risk governance self-assessments not only demonstrated that the issues identified in the CBA inquiry exist beyond that institution – they also go beyond the banking sector,” he said.
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