The Insurance Commission (IC) has issued new guidelines on investments for insurers, reinsurers and mutual benefit associations (MBAs) to enhance their ability to adapt to the evolving investment market environment.
In a statement on Thursday, IC said Circular Letter (CL) No. 2025-09 introduces a range of new allowable investments for its regulated entities, which include structured products, debt securities issued by supranational organizations and investment vehicles.
“While these investments do not require prior approval by the Commission under the new issuance, regulatory safeguards are provided to ensure that the regulated entities will be able to maximize returns, subject to prudent levels of risk,” the IC said.
Specifically, the new CL mandates that each new allowable investment must meet minimum credit rating requirements or be listed on recognized exchanges, which provides a layer of transparency and market oversight.
The new CL also lifted the prior approval requirement under previous
issuances for certain Philippine peso- and foreign currency-denominated investments that meet accepted market-wide standards and have gone through external review processes and scrutiny, such as credit rating and listing on recognized exchanges, among others.
The insurance regulator said 15 CLs on allowable investments of regulated entities, which have been superseded, supplemented or used as references, were used as bases for the consolidation of guidelines, thus streamlining and updating the existing allowable investments framework.
“(The new CL) aims to further empower the Commission’s regulated entities to make well-informed investment decisions with the aim of ensuring the stability and growth of their respective financial assets while safeguarding the interests of their policyholders,” Insurance Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado said in the statement.
“By issuing these new omnibus guidelines, we are addressing the bottlenecks that hinder timely investment decisions and strain regulatory resources,” he added.
