The Academy released a new Essential Elements paper, Insurance Capital Standards, that outlines U.S. and international efforts to establish new solvency and capital standards for insurers. The Essential Elements series is designed to make actuarial analyses of public policy issues clearer to general audiences.

The Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board on issues related to a “margin over current estimate” (MOCE) for international insurance capital standards.

The Financial Regulatory Task Force (FinReg) sent a letter to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) 2015 annual report.

The Financial Reporting Committee’s Profits Followed by Losses Subgroup released a practice note on accounting for profits followed by losses in long-duration contracts.

The Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council (RMFRC) sent comments to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) on Insurance Core Principle (ICP) 8: Risk Management and Internal Controls.

William Hines, vice president of the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council, gave a presentation to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) on modeling for insurance capital standards (ICS).

The ERM/ORSA Committee sent comments to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) on its draft issues paper Conduct of Business Risk and its Management.

The Financial Reporting Committee (FRC) submitted comments to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on its proposed accounting standards update-Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Disclosures about Hybrid Financial Instruments with Bifurcated Embedded Derivatives.

The Solvency Committee submitted written testimony to the U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment for its hearing on "Examining Insurance Capital Rules and FSOC Process."

The Solvency Committee submitted written testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance for its hearing on “The Impact of International Regulatory Standards on the Competitiveness of U.S. Insurers.”

The Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council and Financial Reporting Committee sent comments to the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) on U.S. GAAP loss recognition testing and Insurance Core Principle (ICP) 14 current estimates.

The Financial Regulatory Task Force sent comments to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) on the impact of insurance asset management products and activities to U.S. financial stability.

The Solvency Committee submitted comments to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors on the Risk-based Global Insurance Capital Standard public consultation document dated Dec. 17, 2014.

The Financial Reporting Committee sent comments to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on its treatment of participating contracts in its insurance contracts project in follow-up to a November conference call.

The Financial Regulatory Task Force sent comments to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on its global capital standards report.

The Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council sent comments to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on the consultative document: Recovery and Resolution Planning for Systemically Important Insurers: Guidance on Identification of Critical Functions and Critical Shared Services.

The Solvency Committee sent comments to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on the U.S. Group Capital Methodology Concepts Discussion Paper.

The Solvency Committee sent comments to members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in support of passage of the Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014, which clarifies that the Federal Reserve has the authority to differentiate between banks and insurers in terms of capital requirements.

The Financial Reporting Committee submitted comments to the Financial Accounting Standards Board on its disclosure requirements for short duration contracts.

The Reinsurance Committee submitted comments to the International Accounting Standards Board on the Insurance Contracts Project's reinsurance and ceding commissions proposal.