Publisher's Synopsis
On 8th December 2000 Equitable Life announced that it would stop writing new business. This followed a period of uncertainty following a House of Lords judgement, which ruled that it was a breach of contract for them to reduce the terminal bonuses of policyholders who had an annuity at a fixed guaranteed rate.;This report examines the background to the problems of Equitable Life and the regulatory lessons that could be learnt. It describes the regulatory structure under which Equitable Life operated; the nature of the Guaranteed Annuity Options of the policies and the solvency regime of the Insurance Companies Act 1982. This is followed by a narrative account of the events leading to the FSA assuming responsibility for the prudential regulation of Equitable Life and there is an assessment of the way the FSA and PIA discharged their statutory functions.
