What is the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS)? #
The Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) is a global, risk-based capital adequacy framework developed by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) for Internationally Active Insurance Groups (IAIGs). It provides supervisors around the world with a common way to measure and compare how well-capitalized large, multinational insurance groups are.
Formally adopted in December 2024, the ICS sits within the IAIS's Common Framework for the Supervision of IAIGs (ComFrame). It functions as a prescribed capital requirement (PCR), a solvency threshold that triggers supervisory intervention if an insurer's capital falls below it. The standard covers three core areas: how insurers value their assets and liabilities, what counts as qualifying capital, and how much capital they need to hold against risks across four major categories (insurance risk, market risk, credit risk, and operational risk).