Canada’s insurance regulators sign MOU to share industry conduct information

Four members of the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR), an inter-jurisdictional association of insurance regulators, announced on Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that “sets out the terms for cooperation and exchange of information across provincial and territorial jurisdictions” to make the process simpler and more effective.

“CCIR members represent every province and territory, and it’s in all our interests to work more closely to ensure that we can cooperate and share information on Solvency Supervision and Market Conduct of Regulated Entities,” CCIR chair Patrick Déry said in a statement. “As a result, today we are signing a comprehensive MOU that will formalize information sharing and address issues like risk surveillance, consistent handling of consumer complaints, commercial practices and protection of confidential information.”

Déry said in the statement that the remaining CCIR members are expected to join their counterparts in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec and sign on to this new MOU in the “coming months.”

The CCIR signatories have agreed to share information needed to coordinate regulation of insurance companies that carry on business in more than one province of territory. The MOU also provides specific protocols for the sharing of confidential information.

All provinces and territories conduct investigations into consumer complaints about insurance practices, but the MOU will also allow jurisdictions to share in “broader market and risk analysis.”