At present, a total of seven domestic systemically important banks, such as DBS, OCBC and HSBC, are covered under the framework.
The Monetary
Authority of Singapore has named four insurers as
“systemically important,” putting them under tighter capital
regulations to contain the risks of potential market
blowouts.
Taking effect from 1 January 2024, MAS will use the
term “domestic systemically important insurers” (D-SIIs) to
cover AIA Singapore Private; Income Insurance; Prudential
Assurance Company Singapore (Pte); and The Great Eastern Life
Assurance Company.
The watchdog, which will carry out an annual impact assessment of
the insurers, will require a 25 per cent capital add-on and other
adjustments, it said in a statement last week.
Such rules come at a time when rising interest rates and
financial volatility in certain countries, such as the US and
China, have reminded investors about market vulnerabilities.
Insurance firms are also important conduits for wealth management
in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Enhancing the D-SII framework is part of MAS’ continuous efforts
to strengthen the resilience of Singapore’s financial sector. It
ensures that domestic systemically important insurers are subject
to higher regulatory standards and closer supervision,” Ho Hern
Shin, deputy managing director (Financial Supervision), MAS,
said.
At the moment, the framework applies to seven domestic
systemically important banks: Citibank, DBS, UOB, OCBC, Standard
Chartered, Maybank and HSBC.
