Executives at insurance companies will be held as accountable as senior bankers for the conduct and viability of their companies, Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney has announced.
Reforms the Bank is working on for top bank staff will be extended to include managers of insurers, Carney wrote in a comment piece in The Times on Thursday.
Integrity, honesty and skill are imperatives regardless of whether senior staff work at banks, building societies or insurers, he wrote.
"So alongside reforms that Parliament has asked us to make to hold senior bankers to account, we will create a similar regime for senior managers in the insurance industry," Carney wrote.
Though insurers were less affected by the financial crisis beginning in 2008 than other parts of the financial services sector, they still represent a significant part of the market and therefore pose a risk.
In March, the Financial Conduct Authority announced it is to investigate the treatment of long-term policyholders of life insurance products. It was estimated up to 30 million contracts would be scrutinised.
