The Prudential Authority has released a revised draft Prudential Standard on Public Disclosures for Insurers, setting out detailed requirements for public disclosures under section 45 of the Insurance Act.
The PA states that section 45 makes provision for it to prescribe the quantitative and qualitative information insurers must disclose publicly. The draft standard is intended to operationalise the requirements of section 45 and align with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors Insurance Core Principle 20 on public disclosure.
A first draft was released on 20 July 2021 for consultation. The Authority says comments received were incorporated, “where relevant”, into the revised draft, which was issued on 17 April 2026.
In addition to the revised draft standard, the PA published:
- a draft Guidance Notice;
- a questionnaire to inform the expected impact of the standard; and
- a prescribed comment template.
Application and objectives
The draft standard, issued under the Financial Sector Regulation Act and the Insurance Act, applies to insurers licensed under the Insurance Act, excluding:
- microinsurers;
- insurance groups and controlling companies;
- Lloyd’s; and
- branches of foreign reinsurers.
The draft standard aims to “promote transparency, market discipline, and stakeholder confidence” by prescribing minimum disclosure requirements, including the content, format, and frequency of disclosures.
The purpose of the Guidance Notice is to assist insurers in complying with these requirements and to guide how disclosures may be derived from existing regulatory returns.
The Guidance Notice indicates that insurers may:
- extract qualitative information from Qualitative Regulatory Returns (QRRs);
- extract quantitative information from Quantitative Reporting Templates (QRTs); and
- cross-reference required disclosures to other publicly available reports.
It also clarifies that disclosures are not retrospective in the first year of implementation.
A mapping table links the disclosure requirements in the draft standard to specific QRTs and QRRs.
General requirements
Disclosures must be:
- timely and publicly accessible;
- accurate and complete; and
- material and proportionate.
Insurers must disclose additional information where omission could mislead stakeholders, unless non-disclosure is approved by the PA.
Where non-disclosure is approved, insurers may indicate that information has been withheld with the Authority’s approval, including general reasons such as confidentiality or competitive sensitivity, and must notify the PA if circumstances change.
Disclosures must be made on a publicly accessible platform providing free access without registration.
Annual disclosures must be published within four months of the financial year-end, and insurers must “immediately publicly disclose” material developments affecting previously disclosed information, unless exempted.
The Guidance Notice clarifies that applications for non-disclosure may be submitted within this period.
Qualitative disclosures
The draft standard requires narrative disclosures covering:
- company profile and external environment;
- governance framework, including control functions and board structures;
- insurance risk exposures, including reinsurance and concentrations; and
- operational and information technology risk arrangements.
The Guidance Notice indicates that such disclosures may include additional context, such as:
- explanations of risk concentrations and reinsurance structures; and
- sensitivity analyses illustrating the impact of changes in key assumptions.
Quantitative disclosures and supporting context
The standard prescribes detailed quantitative disclosures across:
- technical provisions;
- investments and investment risk;
- asset-liability management;
- liquidity risk;
- capital adequacy; and
- financial performance.
The Guidance Notice indicates that these are typically supported by explanatory information, including:
- actuarial methods and changes in methodologies;
- valuation approaches and investment classifications;
- analysis of how risk exposures evolve over time; and
- stress testing and sensitivity analysis, where applied.
For example, disclosures on technical provisions are intended to assist stakeholders in understanding their “adequacy, reliability, and uncertainty”, supported by explanations of methodologies and assumptions.
Financial performance disclosures
The standard requires disclosures on financial performance, including underwriting and investment results, sources of earnings and significant loss events.
The Guidance Notice indicates that these may be supported by explanations of key drivers of profitability, underwriting outcomes, and the impact of material items such as impairments or catastrophe losses.
Climate-related considerations
The Guidance Notice states that insurers are “encouraged to assess the relevance of climate-related risks” and, where appropriate, reflect these in their disclosures.
Governance and assurance
The board is ultimately responsible for compliance with the standard and must:
- approve and oversee the disclosure framework;
- ensure appropriate governance and internal controls; and
- confirm that disclosures are “accurate, complete and understandable”.
The internal audit control function must provide an “independent review of the accuracy and reliability” of disclosures and assess supporting processes.
Next steps
The PA has invited stakeholders to comment on the revised draft standard as part of a further round of informal consultation.
Comments must be submitted using the prescribed template by 29 May 2026 to PA-Standards@resbank.co.za
Click here to download the consultation bundle.
Following the consultation process, the Authority is expected to consider comments received before finalising the standard.
