ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) is planning to bring insurance rules in line with modern requirements as the sector continues to remain one of the least-developed areas of the economy.

SECP’s law division has been mandated to update the existing rules, which were formulated in 2000.

Officials say a major overhaul is being considered to give the sector a boost by bridging the gap between insurance companies and consumers.

In a statement issued on Friday, the commission said it has decided to expand the scope of Centralised Information Sharing Solution for Life Insurance Industry (CISSII) to include the register for the group health insurance claims experience.

In this regard, the SECP has solicited the comments and suggestions of the life and non-life insurance companies to finalise the extent and frequency of the information which will be shared on the health register.

At present, there is no information sharing mechanism for group health insurance claims, and insurers have difficulty in making pricing and underwriting decisions in respect of group health insurance business.

At present, the CISSII has four registers on which information is shared by the life insurance companies regarding declined or postponed risks, group life claims experience, early death claims, and malpractices of agents.

The addition of health register in the CISSII will expand its scope to include the non-life insurance companies which underwrite the business of health insurance.

It is believed that this initiative will facilitate the pricing and underwriting functions of the insurance companies while reducing the risks of anti-selection and fraudulent claims for the companies underwriting health insurance business.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2016