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The federal and provincial governments share jurisdiction over life and health insurers. Federal supervision encompasses Canadian-owned insurers and branches of foreign companies holding more than 90 per cent of industry assets. In general, the provinces regulated licensing and marketing, while OSFI conducts prudential reviews of the companies to determine their financial soundness. Compcorp (the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Compensation Corporation) ensures that member companies' policies will be continued, within limits, and generally according to their terms, in the event of an insolvency. This section of our Web site contains a wide range of publications and information relating specifically to domestic and foreign insurance companies. Listings of the federally regulated insurance companies in Canada can be found in the Who We Regulate section of this Web site.
Demutualization of Canadian Mutual Life Insurance Companies
Recent federal government legislation and regulations allowed Canada's largest mutual life insurance companies to convert into stock companies, a process known as demutualization. Four companies have now completed the process of demutualization:
Eligible policyholders were asked by their company to vote on a conversion proposal. Close to the date of the vote, policyholders were provided with an information package that described the specific company proposal in detail. When policyholders approved, and regulatory approval was obtained, eligible policyholders became shareholders of their life insurance company. Policyholders' rights as customers remain unchanged - insurance coverage, policy values, premiums, and policy dividends are not affected by demutualization.
At the time of each company's demutualization, the company's participating account was restructured. All existing eligible participating policies were placed in a closed block within the account. The operations of the company's restructured participating account are governed by operating rules that are described in the policyholder information guide that was distributed to participating policyholders. The operating rules are consistent with and governed by the OSFI document Par Account Restructuring in Canadian Company Demutualizations.
Guidance Note 2: Financial Statements Requirements – Canadian Mutual Company Demutualizations (PDF format)
(June 1999)
Guidance Note 1: Expert Opinions and Report - Canadian Company Demutualizations (PDF format)
(May 1999)
For more information about the demutualization of these insurance companies, please click on the hyperlinks above to contact each company, or contact OSFI:
Toll-free telephone: 1-800-385-8647
Facsimile: (613) 990-5591
E-mail: extcomm@osfi-bsif.gc.ca |