In recent years a greater emphasis has been place on risk management by insurers and regulators alike, most obviously through the introduction of specific requirements relating to own risk and solvency assessments in many different territories around the globe. Regulators in the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Bermuda, amongst others, have all introduced, or are soon to introduce, own risk and solvency assessment requirements.
In Europe, Solvency II will be implememted in full on 1 January 2016, introducing the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) requirements to insurers and reinsurers operating within the European Union. However, during 2014 and 2015, many of these insurers were subject ot the Forward Looking Assessment of Own Risks (FLAOR) requirements following the publication of the preparatory guidelines for Solvency II by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) in October 2013. The FLAOR is based on the ORSA principles and is expected to be carried out on a best efforts basis during the preparatory phase.