Model Audit Rule (MAR)

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a non-profit organization that organizes US state insurance commissioners. It proposes insurance and insurance accounting standards, but is not a regulator. Most importantly, NAIC continually works to uphold the regulation of insurers and enact standards for their financial stability and governance too. The Model Audit Rule (MAR) of the NAIC is key to this effort.

Executive oversight required

In 2010, MAR will be further expanded to require an Internal Control Financial Report (ICFR) from insurance companies, similar in concept to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. The report will require the approval and signature of the CEO and CFO, that internal controls are in place and that the insurance company is financially sound. The purpose of this expanded MAR is to improve the oversight of the financial stability of insurance companies. It does this by requiring an ICFR report, setting guidelines for auditor independence and creating rules for audit committee independence too.

BWise and MAR

The MAR Internal Control Financial Reporting requirements apply to many insurers. Trusted by over 700,000 users worldwide, BWise delivers Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) solutions to insurance firms. Based on our experience, we have developed a best practice approach to assist insurance companies to comply with MAR.