The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) today announced the disqualification of Mr David Julian Slee from holding any appointment as an actuary of a general insurer under the Insurance Act 1973 (the Act).

Mr Slee was found not to meet the ‘fitness and propriety’ requirements set out in APRA’s prudential standards under the Act, in particular that “the person has adequate experience and demonstrated competence and integrity in the conduct of business duties.”

APRA’s decision to disqualify Mr Slee was based on his use of unrealistic assumptions in his capacity as a consulting actuary to HIH to arrive at an unreasonably low estimate of the Group’s claims liabilities. APRA also found that Mr Slee allowed his independence to be compromised.

APRA has referred the matter of his conduct and its conclusions to the Institute of Actuaries Australia. APRA’s Deputy Chairman, Mr Ross Jones, said the assessment of a number of individuals involved with the collapse of HIH is continuing. “This is a large scale and complex exercise that still has some considerable way to run.”

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is the prudential regulator of the financial services industry. It oversees banks, credit unions, building societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry.APRA is funded largely by the industries that it supervises. It was established on 1 July 1998.APRA currently supervises institutions holding approximately $1.8 trillion in assets for 20 million Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.