Tuesday, February 16, 2021
At the beginning of the year, we published a short report on the surge in year-end insurance regulatory activity concerning climate change risks (available here). January was another busy month, and we report below on noteworthy developments in Bermuda, Canada and the United States.
IN DEPTH
As readers will know, outside of the United Kingdom and European Union, most insurance regulators are only now beginning to grapple with how to incorporate climate change risk into their regulatory frameworks. And in the European Union and the United Kingdom, debate continues about the scope and depth of climate change risk regulation. Anecdotally, it appears that many re/insurers in Europe are well advanced in formulating their sustainability policies and in moving toward decarbonizing their investment portfolios (particularly with respect to thermal coal investments), reducing/eliminating their own greenhouse gas emissions and managing climate change ris
‘Canada’s banks were built for this’: How Big Six shares roared back to pre-pandemic levels Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Unemployment is soaring and doctors are worried the country will face a third wave of COVID-19, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the share prices of Canada’s Big Six banks.
Even though the lenders are deeply linked to the country’s wounded economy, their stocks have roared back to around pre-pandemic levels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is worth even more than it was before markets tanked last February.
FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS – iA Financial Corporation
Solvency ratio of 130% at December 31, 2020, up five percentage points
Reported and core EPS of $1.60 for the fourth quarter
Expected profit on in-force up 11% YoY and excellent results at iA Auto and Home
Continued strong sales growth, particularly in Individual Insurance (+40% YoY)
Net fund inflows of $792 million, including over $245 million in mutual funds
Slightly positive impact of year-end actuarial assumption review and risk management initiatives, including additional provisions for the pandemic
Reinstatement of market guidance for 2021 with updated core earnings definition
The results presented below are for iA Financial Corporation Inc. ( iA Financial Corporation or the Company ), the holding company that owns 100% of the common shares of Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. ( iA Insurance ). The results for iA Insurance are presented in a separate section on page 6 of this d
The Globe and Mail CAMERON FRENCH Published February 10, 2021
Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
When Tiff Macklem took over as Bank of Canada governor in June he brought the requisite credentials in government and academia, including a past stint as deputy governor of the central bank.
But more important to some are his ‘green’ credentials, particularly his chairing of the federal Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, which in 2019 recommended Canadian financial institutions revamp their business practices to address the challenges of climate change.
Nine months into the job, and despite the dominance the pandemic is having on the economic agenda, there are signs that the hoped-for sustainability shift is happening at the Bank of Canada.
In a statement issued by the Superintendent
released on July 13, 2020, OSFI signalled a gradual restart of
OSFI s policy development work in the fall of 2020. On August
31, 2020, OSFI announced in a series of letters issued to industry that it
would unwind certain of the temporary measures put in place at the
beginning of the pandemic, including a gradual phaseout of the
special capital treatment of loan and insurance premium payment
deferrals that was provided to banks and insurers.
On December 12, 2020, OSFI announced that the domestic stability buffer
would remain at one per cent of total risk-weighted assets, stating
that DSB reduction in March continues to be effective and