Insurance Review: Spring 2010

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

• Investigating fraud in the insurance industry – Are you prepared?
• The journey has just begun in claims transformation
• State of the internal audit profession study
• Tax risk management in an increasingly transparent world

During difficult economic times, the incentive to commit fraud increases while the focus on fraud detection, prevention and investigation generally diminishes. It happens in every sector and the insurance industry is no exception. According to our 2009 Global Economic Crime Survey of over 3,000 executives from 54 countries, economic crime has risen to its highest level in the past six years.

Investigating fraud in the insurance industry – Are you prepared? (87 KB)

Canadian property and casualty (P&C) insurers continue to seek greater efficiencies, including reducing direct and indirect indemnity costs in their claims operation. Many have embarked or will soon start claims transformation initiatives, including operational improvements and the implementation of claims management systems. While successes (and some failures) are widely acknowledged, the journey has really only just begun.

The journey has just begun in claims transformation (58 KB)

The recent market turmoil that resulted in a massive government stimulus throughout the world leads to the obvious question – who will be asked to pay the bill? The actions to date confirm the financial sector may pay a significant part of the debt through a combination of new taxes, increasing the tax collection burden on financial institutions and enforcement actions. In this article, we examine these developments and what actions financial institutions should consider.

State of the internal audit profession study (92 KB)

Through increased globalization of financial services businesses, intercompany transactions continue to grow in size and complexity as services affect more affiliates and branches. On the one hand, tax authorities are being aggressive to tax their ‘fair share’, while on the other hand they are increasingly collaborating to keep pace with the business changes and tax consequences.

Tax risk management in an increasingly transparent world (87 KB)

Insurance Review: Spring 2010 (355 KB)