MS Amlin Underwriting Fined $11 Million for Risk Management Failings

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The Bank of England said on Thursday it had fined insurer MS Amlin Underwriting Ltd (MSAUL) 9.695 million pounds ($10.84 million) for failings in its governance, controls and risk management which spanned five years.

The central bank’s regulatory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said the failings, which took place between September 2014 and December 2019, continued despite the watchdog sending a warning to Amlin and its peers in the sector in the first half of 2018.

The company organized its underwriting business into three units, and the PRA said it had noted its concerns regarding the risks this, and prevailing market conditions, presented.

“The penalty reflects the seriousness of MSAUL’s failure to meet the expected standards in this case, and should deter similar conduct by other firms,” Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said in a statement.

The PRA said Amlin agreed to resolve the matter and qualified for a 30% discount to avoid a higher fine of 13.85 million pounds.

Amlin said the fine drew a clear and final line under legacy matters that culminated in its adverse financial performance in 2017.

“The new management team, established in 2020, has completed a comprehensive program of structural and strategic changes which has dealt with these historical matters, and supported a return to profitable growth,” Amlin said in a statement.

The PRA said its “Dear CEO” letter sent to all specialist general insurance firms, including Amlin, in May 2018 identified areas where the regulator had found weaknesses in firms’ oversight of underwriting and associated controls.

“The PRA expects that when it issues communications such as these that regulated firms act on their content in an appropriate and timely way, and promptly address any identified weaknesses. The Firm failed to do so in this case,” the PRA said.

($1 = 0.8947 pounds)

(Additional reporting by Caroyn Cohn; editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter)