More than 130 insurance firms, accounting bodies and other interested parties provided responses to the International Accounting Standards Board\'s exposure draft (ED 5) on insurance contracts Here\'s a selection of regulators\' comments

The state-based regulation of the US insurance industry is under fire. Insurers want the option of federal supervision. Here\'s a summary of the testimony at November\'s House hearings

Australia\'s supervisors are building on the lessons of HIH\'s collapse to make the insurance industry safer

The PCAOB received 183 responses to its exposure draft on Sarbanes-Oxley audit standards, by the November 21 comment deadline. Many respondents strongly dispute the Board\'s thinking and challenge its fundamental premises, says Bruce McCuaig.

BRUSSELS, December 1 - The European Commission would like to hear from European Union member states how they think lessons from the Basel II upgrade of bank safety rules might be applied to the development of Solvency II rules for Europe\'s insurance industry.

WASHINGTON, December 8 - US banking supervisors will have to choose between ignoring the output of the formulae in the Basel II international capital rules for bank safety, or significantly weakening current US capital rules, according to a federal banking regulator.

GENEVA, December 11- US Federal Reserve Board vice chairman Roger Ferguson reiterated in early December his optimism that the Basel II update of international rules for bank safety \"will emerge from the Basel Committee in a timely fashion, so that national procedures can go forward.\"

BERLIN, December 16 - A leading US banking supervisor warned this week that \"there is a staggering amount of work\" to be done on the Basel II upgrade of bank safety rules and that more unforeseen issues could emerge.

LONDON, December 17 - The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) today issued revised versions of two controversial accounting standards dealing with financial instruments, amid speculation that the rules could lead to a clash with some European Union countries.

LONDON, December 22 - The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has agreed to remove the time limit on a key exemption for insurance companies because of the delay in developing a new accounting rule for measuring the value of insurance contracts.