PART 2 U.K.ACCOUNTS
Preparation of accounts by insurance undertakingsU.K.
3.—(1) The directors of an insurance undertaking must in respect of each financial year of the undertaking—
(a)prepare the like annual accounts [F1, strategic report] and directors' report, and
(b)cause to be prepared such an auditor's report,
as would be required under the provisions mentioned in paragraph (3) if the undertaking were a company which is an insurance company or the parent company of an insurance group.
(2) The accounts required by this regulation must—
(a)be prepared within the period of 6 months beginning immediately after the end of the undertaking's financial year,
(b)state that they are prepared under this regulation, and
(c)comply with such of the requirements of the provisions mentioned in paragraph (3) as relate to the contents of accounts or reports subject, where the insurance undertaking is unincorporated, to any necessary modifications to take account of that fact.
(3) The provisions referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) are the following provisions of the Companies Act 2006 and the Companies Accounts Regulations—
[F2(da)Chapters 4, 4A (apart from sections 414CA and 414CB) and 5 of Part 15 (accounts and reports) and Chapter 1 of Part 16 (requirement for audited accounts) of the Companies Act 2006,]
(e)where Companies Act individual accounts are prepared, Schedule 3 to the Companies Accounts Regulations (insurance companies: Companies Act individual accounts) other than paragraphs 11, 62, 68, 70, 71, 72, 82(2), 83 and 84 and, in paragraph 2(2), the words from “save that none of the following” to the end,
(f)Schedule 4 to those Regulations (information on related undertakings required whether preparing Companies Act or IAS accounts) other than paragraphs 9 and 12,
(g)Schedule 5 to those Regulations (information about benefits of directors) other than paragraphs 2, 4 and 5,
(h)where Companies Act group accounts are prepared, Part 1 of Schedule 6 to the Companies Accounts Regulations (Companies Act group accounts: general rules) (as modified by Part 3 of that Schedule (modifications for insurance groups)) other than paragraphs 13(3) and (4), 14 and 15,
(i)paragraphs [F31A,] 6 and 7 of Schedule 7 to those Regulations (directors' report).
(4) For the purposes of those provisions as applied to accounts prepared under this regulation, these Regulations are to be regarded as part of the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and the Companies Accounts Regulations.
(5) Regulations 5 and 6 of the Companies (Disclosure of Auditor Remuneration and Liability Limitation Agreements) Regulations 2008 M1 apply in relation to the accounts required by this regulation as they apply in relation to the annual accounts of a company or group which is not a small or medium-sized company or group.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in reg. 3(1)(a) inserted (with effect in accordance with reg. 2(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1164), reg. 1(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 3(a) (with reg. 2(6)(7))
F2Reg. 3(3)(da) substituted for reg. 3(3)(a)-(d) (with effect in accordance with reg. 2(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1164), reg. 1(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 3(b)(i) (with reg. 2(6)(7))
F3Word in reg. 3(3)(i) inserted (with effect in accordance with reg. 2(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1164), reg. 1(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 3(b)(ii) (with reg. 2(6)(7))
Marginal Citations
Publication of accountsU.K.
4.—(1) An insurance undertaking must—
(a)make available the latest accounts and reports prepared under regulation 3 for inspection by any person, without charge and during business hours, at the undertaking's head office in the United Kingdom, and
(b)supply to any person upon request a copy of those accounts (or such part of those accounts as may be requested) at a price not exceeding the administrative cost of making the copy.
(2) In the case of [F4registered societies] which are insurance undertakings, the obligation in paragraph (1) (b) is subject to the provisions of [F5section 90(1) of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014] or section 48(6) of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, as the case may be.
Textual Amendments
F4Words in reg. 4(2) substituted (1.8.2014) by The Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies and Credit Unions Act 2010 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1815), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 20(4)(a)
F5Words in reg. 4(2) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 2(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1164), reg. 1(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 4(a) (with reg. 2(6)(7))
Penalties for non-compliance (accounts)U.K.
5.—(1) If the directors of an insurance undertaking fail to comply with paragraph (1) of regulation 3 within the period referred to in paragraph (2) of that regulation, an offence is committed by every person who, immediately before the end of that period, was a director of the undertaking.
(2) If accounts and reports which are made available for inspection under regulation 4(1) do not comply with the requirements of regulation 3, an offence is committed by every person who, at the time when the accounts and reports were or the account was first made available for inspection, was a director of the insurance undertaking.
(3) If an insurance undertaking fails to comply with regulation 4(1) an offence is committed by—
(a)the insurance undertaking, and
(b)every director of the insurance undertaking who is in default.
(4) Where the affairs of an insurance undertaking are managed by its members, any reference in this regulation to a director of the insurance undertaking shall be read as referring to a member of the undertaking.
(5) In proceedings for an offence under this [F6regulation] it is a defence for the person charged to show that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under this regulation is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
F7(7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Textual Amendments
F6Word in reg. 5(5) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 2(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1164), reg. 1(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 5(a) (with reg. 2(6)(7))
F7Reg. 5(7) omitted (with effect in accordance with reg. 2(4) of the amending S.I.) by virtue of The Statutory Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1164), reg. 1(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 5(b) (with reg. 2(6)(7))