Review of the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010

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Our policy work for insurer oversight

We are reviewing the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 (IPSA). This page explains what is being reviewed, where the review is up to, and how to access key documents.

Published:

Last updated:

Consultation on Exposure draft Amendment Bill

At a glance

What:
Review of IPSA, the prudential legislation that governs the private insurance sector in New Zealand.

Why:
To modernise insurance regulation in New Zealand and bring it closer to other domestic regulatory regimes and international best practice.

Status:
Consultation on the Exposure draft Amendment Bill is open .

Next step:
Consultation has been extended and will now close on 28 August 2026. We will then review consultation feedback and report back to the Minister of Finance and Cabinet.

About the review

The purpose of the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 is to promote the maintenance of a sound and efficient insurance sector, and to promote public confidence in the sector.

We are reviewing IPSA to modernise insurance regulation in New Zealand and bring it closer to other domestic regulatory regimes and international practice.

We started reviewing IPSA in 2016. Since then, we have run several consultations and considered findings from external reports.

In 2025, Cabinet agreed to a package of recommendations to modernise the prudential framework for insurers. An Amendment Bill has now been drafted to reflect Cabinet’s policy decisions. See our timeline below for more information.

Amending the principles of IPSA to:

incorporate a proportionate approach to regulation and supervision, including a proportionality framework for standards issued under IPSA, and

consider international regulatory practice.

Adjusting the regulatory scope of IPSA to provide clarity around which entities are in and out of scope of prudential regulation and supervision and to better align with international best practice.

Empowering the Reserve Bank to issue a wider range of ‘standards’ (a form of secondary legislation) to allow the Reserve Bank to clarify its obligations on insurers and allow it to sanction insurers in the event of non-compliance.

Adjusting the current fit and proper regime that applies to directors and senior officers of insurers to ensure there is better engagement with the Reserve Bank on insurers’ choice of appropriate senior officers and to better align with prudential best practice.

Simplifying the regulatory approvals regime in relation to significant transactions involving the sale and purchase of insurance business.

Introducing a broader range of supervisory tools for the Reserve Bank to better support the monitoring and assessment of the financial health of insurers and their compliance with prudential requirements and to better align with prudential best practice.

Introducing additional enforcement powers to allow the Reserve Bank to respond more proportionately to varying degrees of non-compliance.

Updating the current distress management provisions to modernise the Reserve Bank’s powers to deal with insurers in financial difficulty.

Some additional minor technical amendments to improve IPSA.

Where the review is up to

IPSA Review timeline

2016

Complete

IPSA Review launched

We began our multi-year review with the publication of the terms of reference.

Terms of Reference (PDF, 98KB)

2017

Complete

First stage of IPSA Review

We identified issues at a high level and ran the initial public consultation process.

Read the issues paper

2020

Complete

IPSA Review restarts

We restarted the review by releasing a paper outlining our anticipated review timeline.

IPSA Review relaunch paper (PDF, 600KB)

2020 to 2023

Complete

Second stage of IPSA Review

We released 4 options papers working through different sections of IPSA. This resulted in an 'omnibus consultation', which set out a full set of proposals for amending IPSA.

See closed consultations

2025

Complete

Policy finalisation and approval

In August 2025, Cabinet agreed to a set of recommendations to progress an Amendment Bill to make changes to IPSA.

Read the cabinet decisions

April 2026

In Progress

Exposure draft of IPSA Amendment Bill

We are consulting on the exposure draft of the Amendment Bill. We are seeking feedback to help ensure the policy changes are workable in practice and achieve the intended outcomes.

Visit the consultation page

2027

Parliamentary process

Cabinet approval for Bill's introduction after the election.

2028

Commencement

Substantive provisions are targeted for commencement in 2028.

2028

Implementation

Development of new prudential requirements and embedding new supervisory, enforcement and crisis management frameworks.

Closed consultations

We launched an omnibus consultation, which sets out a full set of proposals for amending IPSA.

This consultation explored possible changes to:

Purposes, scope and regulatory boundaries

‘Overseas’ insurers – branches and subsidiaries

Solvency and ladder of intervention

Policyholder security and statutory funds

Governance, risk management and relevant officers

Disclosure and reporting requirements

Supervisory powers and approval processes

Enforcement and penalties

Distress management

As a result, we published a summary of submissions received and detailed public submissions.

IPSA Omnibus consultation submissions
(PDF, 15MB)

IPSA Omnibus consultation summary of submissions (PDF, 294KB)

IPSA Omnibus consultation paper
(PDF, 951KB)

IPSA Omnibus consultation non-technical summary (PDF, 318KB)

Webinar: IPSA and Solvency Standard Reviews presentation (PDF, 666KB)

IPSA Omnibus discussion - webinar questions and answers (PDF, 102KB)

We launched a consultation seeking feedback on insurance governance and supervisory processes. This consultation was the last of 4 topic-specific consultations as part of our review of the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 (IPSA).

This consultation explored:

governance and risk management for insurers

accountability for directors

appointed actuaries and other key officers

supervisory oversight of major restructuring transactions, and

provisions for data gathering and information disclosure to support our insurance supervision.

Subsequently, we published a summary of submissions received and detailed public submissions.

IPSA Governance, Supervisory Processes and Disclosure Consultation Paper (PDF, 975KB)

IPSA Governance, Supervisory Processes and Disclosure Non-Technical Summary (PDF, 713KB)

IPSA Governance, Supervisory Processes and Disclosure Summary of Submissions (PDF, 412KB)

IPSA Governance, Supervisory Processes and Disclosure Full Submissions (PDF, 4MB)

We launched a consultation seeking feedback on the penalties and enforcement tools available when supervising insurers and our powers to manage distressed insurers.

We subsequently published our feedback to responses received and detailed public submissions.

IPSA Options Paper 3: Enforcement and Distress Management Consultation Paper (PDF, 965KB)

IPSA Options Paper 3: Enforcement and Distress Management non-technical summary (PDF, 680KB)

IPSA Enforcement and Distress Management feedback statement (PDF, 820KB)

IPSA Enforcement and Distress Management feedback full submissions (PDF, 3MB)

We sought feedback on issues relating to insurers’ financial strength disclosures, solvency requirements, termination values, statutory funds and a policyholder guarantee scheme.

We subsequently published our feedback to responses received and detailed public submissions.

Read the non-technical summary

Policyholder Security consultation paper
(PDF, 1MB)

IPSA Policyholder Security feedback statement
(PDF, 782KB)

IPSA Policyholder Security full submissions
(PDF, 8MB)

We sought feedback on issues relating to the scope of IPSA (for example, the definitions of insurance and carrying on business). We also sought feedback on handling overseas insurers and their New Zealand branches.

We subsequently published our feedback to responses received and detailed public submissions.

Insurance Policy Review: Insurance Prudential Supervision Act (PDF, 1MB)

IPSA Review feedback statement - Scope of Act and Overseas Insurers (PDF, 843KB)

IPSA consultation on Scope of Act and Overseas Insurers submissions (PDF, 9MB)

We restarted the review by releasing a paper outlining our anticipated review timeline.

IPSA Review relaunch paper
(PDF, 600KB)

We launched the review with an issues paper outlining:

the rationale for the review

the terms of reference

the intended process for the review

a range of potential issues we had identified that could be taken forward under the review.

We subsequently published a feedback statement.

Issues Paper: Review of the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 (PDF, 1MB)

Review of the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010: Issues Paper Consultation Feedback Statement (PDF, 469KB)

We released the terms of reference for a review of IPSA.

IPSA Terms of Reference
(PDF, 98KB)

If you have feedback on IPSA

In addition to our formal engagement process, we welcome comments or feedback on the operation of IPSA at any time.

If you would like to contact us, please email ipsareview@rbnz.govt.nz