The Board for Actuarial Standards (BAS) received 38 responses to its discussion paper on Actuarial Mortality Assumptions. The BAS has now published an analysis of the responses, which generally indicated that the discussion paper had helped to stimulate debate and that it presented a balanced view.

Following the consultation, the BAS has confirmed that it does not intend to publish a separate standard on mortality, but that mortality assumptions will be covered in several of the standards that will be published in 2009 and 2010, including those on Modelling, Reporting, Long Term Insurance Business and Pensions.

The BAS believes that the use of some specified comparisons for mortality assumptions might be helpful to users, particularly in the area of possible scenarios for future rates of improvement. It is working with the Continuous Mortality Investigation and other bodies towards the early development of suitable candidate benchmarks.

Commenting on the responses, Paul Seymour, Chairman of the BAS, said

“I am pleased that we received so many useful responses to our discussion paper, which show that both actuaries and the users of actuarial information are engaging with the important issue of mortality assumptions.”

Copies of the BAS’s analysis of responses, the responses themselves, and the consultation paper can be downloaded from the BAS’s website at http://www.frc.org.uk/bas/publications.

1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate governance and reporting. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating bodies (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board) and by the FRC Board. The Committee on Corporate Governance assists the Board in its work on corporate governance.
2. The Board for Actuarial Standards has a primary objective of promoting competence and transparency of actuarial practice by establishing and improving actuarial technical standards and ensuring that they are coherent, consistent and comprehensive.
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