Wis. Admin. Code Office of the Commissioner of Insurance Ins 50.155 - Internal audit function requirements

(1) An insurer is exempt from the requirements of this section if:

(a) The insurer has total annual direct written and unaffiliated assumed premiums, including international direct and assumed premiums but excluding premiums reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, less than $500,000,000; and

(b) If the insurer is a member of a group of insurers, the group has total annual direct written and unaffiliated assumed premiums, including international direct and assumed premiums but excluding premiums reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, less than $1,000,000,000.

(2) An insurer or group of insurers shall establish an internal audit function providing independent, objective, and reasonable assurance to the audit committee and insurer management regarding the insurer's governance, risk management, and internal controls. This assurance shall be provided by performing general and specific audits, reviews, and tests and by employing other techniques deemed necessary to protect assets, evaluate control effectiveness and efficiency, and evaluate compliance with policies and regulations.

(3) In order to ensure that internal auditors remain objective, the internal audit function must be organizationally independent. Specifically, the internal audit function will not defer ultimate judgment on audit matters to others, and the insurer or group of insurers shall appoint an individual to head the internal audit function who will have direct and unrestricted access to the board of directors. Organizational independence does not preclude dual-reporting relationships.

(4) The head of the internal audit function shall report to the audit committee regularly, but no less than annually, on the periodic audit plan, factors that may adversely impact the internal audit function's independence or effectiveness, material findings from completed audits, and the appropriateness of corrective actions implemented by management as a result of audit findings.

(5) If an insurer is a member of an insurance holding company system, as defined in s. Ins 40.01 (6), or included in a group of insurers, the insurer may satisfy the internal audit function requirements set forth in this section at the ultimate controlling parent level, an intermediate holding company level, or the individual legal entity level.

Notes

Wis. Admin. Code Office of the Commissioner of Insurance Ins 50.155

Adopted by, CR 17-015: cr. Register December 2017 No. 744, eff. 1/1/2018 Amended by, CR 22-075: am. (1) Register June 2023 No. 810, eff. 7/1/2023