The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal businesses activity in almost all areas of the economy, including the insurance and financial services sectors. Regulators around the world are undertaking various measures to respond to the potential effects of the pandemic on these industries and ensure that customers are protected.

This global update provides an summary of the latest regulatory developments in key markets around the world, including Australia, Asia, the Middle East, South Africa,the United Kingdom and the Americas. It outlines changes to the prudential and licensing requirements, and statutory obligations of financial service providers; postponement of regulatory initiatives and reform; areas of specific regulatory focus; and changes to the operations of regulators as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss regulatory issues further in any jurisdiction, please get in touch directly with one of the Corporate Insurance Partners listed below.

COVID-19 Australia: Financial sector regulatory reform is postponed for six months

With COVID-19 putting unprecedented pressure on the financial sector, the Australian Government and regulators have put their ambitious regulatory agenda on hold for six months to allow businesses to focus on managing the COVID-19 crisis.

Over the last 12 months, the Australian Government had been pursuing a rapid agenda of legislative reform to implement the 76 recommendations arising from the Final Report into the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry in Australia (the Financial Services Royal Commission) in February 2019.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) had also planned an ambitious agenda of reviews and reform initiatives to be undertaken in 2020.

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has forced the Government and regulators to reconsider the speed of reform, particularly as financial services sector will be critical to support the economy through the COVID-19 crisis. New priorities have been announced, exceptions allowed and further reforms put on hold. While this offers some relief to financial service providers, regulators have made it clear that they will continue to closely monitor conduct and the prudential position of regulated entities.

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