To safeguard policyholders' interest and given the important role they play in the country's financial system, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has proposed to extend the Corporate Governance (CG) Framework to all direct insurers and reinsurers in Singapore.

Some key recommendations include:

• categorizing locally incorporated direct insurers and reinsurers into 2 tiers based on the size of total assets or annual gross premiums
• subjecting Tier 1 insurers to higher CG standards
• introducing a disqualification rule for the directors, executive officers and employees of an insurer
• requiring Tier 2 insurers to have a board comprising at least one-third of directors who are independent directors

The recommendations are to take effect by the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) of each insurer held on or after 1 January 2013.

Details relating to the Regulations and Guidelines of the CG Framework are on MAS website. MAS encourages comments on the proposal by 23 March 2012.