Insurance regulators in Asia and Europe ease rules to aid growth

Australia and China are at the forefront of changes in Q3 2025.

Insurance regulators in the Asia Pacific (APAC) and EMEA regions are increasingly supportive of economic growth, says Fitch Ratings.

Notably, Australia is proposing to reduce capital changes in return for better asset-liability matching— which will make the annuity business more attractive and affordable, the ratings agency said.

China has also announced a 10% reduction for equity investments. This move is expected to incentivise insurers to provide more capital to the corporate sector and, in turn, support economic growth.

At the Western front, the European Commission proposed to lower capital charges for certain long-term equity investments and senior tranches of securitisations.

Insurance regulators in the US and the UK are reportedly increasingly wary of the growing use of funded reinsurance treaties in life insurance.

The US introduced an asset adequacy test to assure cash flow matching of assets and liabilities in such treaties; whilst the UK has alluded to potentially tightening regulation on funded reinsurance, Fitch Ratings said.