Insurance Review: Fall 2010

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Insurance Review offers a Canadian perspective on the challenges and opportunities in the insurance industry. The articles in the Fall 2010 issue are:

• Social media is fueling the reinvention of the customer experience
• Insurance contracts – fundamental accounting changes proposed
• Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – New US rules that will affect non-US entities
• The 2010 Federal Budget and equity-based compensation
• Regulatory Update: “The times they are a-changing”

Insurance companies have been late to the party of social media usage. Sure, marketing campaigns featuring social network promotions or video podcasts are starting to seem commonplace, but integrated social media applications that weave customer learnings into operational delivery are rare.

Social media is fueling the reinvention of the customer experience (56 KB)

On July 30, 2010 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued the long-awaited exposure draft of a comprehensive standard that will fundamentally change the accounting by insurers and other entities that issue contracts with insurance risk. The proposals are the output of the IASB and the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) joint efforts to develop a single converged insurance standard.

Insurance contracts – fundamental accounting changes proposed (107 KB)

In previous articles, we commented on the various factors that are influencing tax authorities' coordinated international response to tax compliance and the actions being undertaken by them to ensure collection of all taxes properly due to their jurisdiction. Those articles focused mainly on business taxation. In this article, we review a recent development that will impose a costly burden on financial institutions and directly impact the customer experience at the retail level.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – New US rules that will affect non-US entities (62 KB)

On March 4, 2010, the federal government handed down a budget that proposed changes in the area of equity compensation which included the removal of a popular and highly tax-efficient plan design: options with tandem share appreciation rights (TSARs).

The 2010 Federal Budget and equity-based compensation (56 KB)

It is fair to say the past few years have been a period of unprecedented and sustained change, with extreme market volatility, pressures on the quality and availability of capital, and substantial changes in financial reporting with the move to IFRS. The regulatory environment has, like your company, had to respond to these times and change accordingly.

Regulatory Update: “The times they are a-changing” (32 KB)

Insurance Review: Fall 2010 (444 KB) Download the entire PDF.