The New Basel Capital Accord is one of the main reasons behind the recent evolution of risk management in international banks. This proposal requires that capital be allocated to face the risks present in banks. This international trend is already being reflected in the Brazilian regulatory environment for banks. The regulatory environment for risk management and capital allocation for insurance companies is converging quickly to that of banks in international markets. The same is not true for the Brazilian regulatory environment for insurance companies, which is still far behind that of banks. In this article we present the main differences between the regulatory environment for capital allocation faced by banks and insurance companies in Brazil. Our main objective is to propose a unified regulatory framework to require capital in both banks and insurance companies in Brazil, showing how this convergence should be conducted.
Capital allocation; economic capital; regulatory capital; risk management; New Basel Capital Accord