As the global standard setter for insurance supervision, the IAIS also has an important role in supporting its members to put its standards into practice. To this end, the IAIS develops various supporting materials most relevant to, and addressing the interests and demands of, insurance supervisors. These materials are developed based on feedback from implementation assessment activities or may relate to emerging insurance market trends and developments.
Supporting materials are generally classified into the following categories:
Application Papers provide supporting material related to supervisory material (ICPs or ComFrame). Application Papers could be provided in circumstances where the practical application of principles and standards may vary or where their interpretation and implementation may pose challenges. Application Papers do not include new requirements, but provide further advice, illustrations, recommendations or examples of good practice to supervisors on how supervisory material may be implemented. The proportionality principle applies also to the content of Application Papers.
Issues Papers provide background on particular topics, describe current practices, share actual examples or case studies pertaining to a particular topic and/or identify related regulatory and supervisory issues and challenges. Issues Papers are primarily descriptive and not meant to create expectations as to how supervisors should implement supervisory material. Issues Papers often form part of the preparatory work for developing standards and may contain recommendations for future work by the IAIS.
The IAIS also develops other notes and reports which often are more exploratory in nature, for instance to describe an emerging trend or development and its relevance to insurance supervision. Such notes and reports may also include recommendations for future work.