12.8. Maintain Country and State Information

Locations icon

Click the Locations icon to see the Location window.

Here you can maintain information about countries and states, and create country groups (also known as areas) and state groups.

SICS uses ISO information standards for countries, and lists all countries in the world according to ISO 3166. The official English name is listed next to the ISO code. For each country you can register the currencies used, market interest rates, ratings, indexes and tax information.

Click the right mouse button in the information display to see the pop-up menu.

To add a country, select New from the pop-up menu.

Country Properties Handling #

To see the properties of a country, select a country in the list by double-clicking it, or by selecting it and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu.

The main information about a country is shown and maintained from this window. This includes the country’s Name, Short Name(3-letter code), the Main Currency the country uses, and it’s ISO identifiers. There is also a field called Alternate Code, in which you can add your own identifier for the country. (This could be, for example, a code that was used in the SICS 7.1 system.)

You can change the main currency of a country by choosing a currency from the drop-down list the Main Currency field. (You must click the Edit button first.) To add a currency, refer to Currency Management.

On the left-hand side of the Properties tab is the Properties list, which lists different properties for a country. When you click one of the properties in that list to select it, you see that the tab to the right of the Properties window changes and displays information pertinent to the chosen property.

For example, if you select Currencies in the Properties list, you see a section on the right-hand side of the window where you can select currencies to apply to that country. (You do so by selecting Edit Current Assignment from the pop-up menu, selecting from the list of currencies in the Available list, and then clicking the right arrow button so that it appears in the Selected list.)

The properties that an end user sees in the Properties list will vary depending on what has been installed here. Common ones are: states, state groups, country groups, communications, currencies, market interest rates, ratings, indexes, and tax information.

States: A list of states for the country appears. Click the right mouse button to bring up the pop-up menu where you can select New to add a state, Edit to see or edit the properties of a state in the list, Activate to make it active for reference, and Inactivate to give the state an inactive status.

State Groups: A list of state groups appears. Click the right mouse button to bring up the pop-up menu where you can select New to add a state group, Edit to see or edit the properties (including members) of the group, and Activate, or Inactivate to give the group active or inactive status.

Areas: You see a list including the following fields: Type, Name, Code, and Status. Click the right mouse button and select Edit Area Assignment to add or remove an area from a country.

Communications: You see a tab called Prefixes, where you can enter telephone and telex prefixes, and a tab called Mail, where you can enter mailing information.

Currencies: You see a list of currencies for a particular country. To edit a currency, select Edit Currency Assignment from the pop-up menu. You see a list of Active currencies that you can select to use as currencies in the country you have open.

After you’ve made a currency choice, it appears in the Currency window corresponding to that particular country.

Refer to Currency Management for information on adding and maintaining currencies.

Market Interest Rates: A list of rates appears by type. Only the most recent one is shown. If you want to see past rates, select History from the pop-up menu.

You can also use the pop-up menu to select New to add a new interest rate, or Properties, to see or edit the properties of a selected one from the list.

Vat: If the country has a Value Added Tax (VAT) property, the Display list shows the most recent VAT %. To see the past VAT percentages, select History from the pop-up menu. You can also select New to add a new VAT %, or Properties, to see or edit the property of the current VAT%, or Delete, to delete the current VAT%.

Ratings: You see a list of ratings for the country including the name of the rating system, and the actual rating date. Click the right mouse button and select New to add a new rating. You choose the rating system and the rating itself from drop-down lists.

To see past ratings for that country, select History from the pop-up menu. You can also use the pop-up menu to see or edit the properties of a rating (select Properties), or to delete a rating (select Delete).

Indexes: Refer to Index Handling below.

Fund Type: If you want to default a fund type when creating a new non-treaty business with this country or this country as part of a country group, you can register this information on the Country Property window.

1. Find and open the country.
2. Click the Properties tab.
3. In the Properties display list, select Fund Type .
4. In the Fund Type group box, select Edit from the pop-up menu. You see the Fund Type dialog box.
5. Select the required Fund Type from the drop-down list and click OK.

Tax on Interests: Click the tab pertaining to the type of business you want to maintain tax information for (Inward or Outward). Type in the Provisional and Definite tax interest percentages, and add a Valid From date.

Account Administration: Use this when you want to give default values to the business when the cedent is from this country.

On the Prop Treaty tab, you can give a Submission Within value to be defaulted on the Administration Conditions for Prop Treaties.

On the Non-Prop Treaty tab, you can give payment limits to be used as default when instalments are produced on Non-Prop Treaties.

On the Facultative tab you can do the same for Facultative business.

When these conditions are created for the different types of business, the values given here are defaulted if the cedent is located in the same country.

Deductions: This country property is only available when the ‘Enable IPT Functionality ‘system parameter is selected.

‘Maintain Insurance Premium Tax rule: ‘When your company writes direct policies in countries where Insurance Premium Tax applies, you record and maintain the Insurance Premium Tax rules per country for later re-use on the business.

To set up an Insurance Premium Tax rule:

1. Click the Deductions property on the Country Properties window.
2. Click in the Deductions display list and select ‘New ‘from the pop-up menu. You see the Country Deduction window.
3. Enter the values for the new Insurance Premium Tax rule and click OK.

Field description 1. - Record Insurance Premium Tax Rule

State Properties Handling #

When you select State from the Properties list in the Country Properties window, you see a list of states for that country, if there are any. If you want to add a state, click the right mouse button and select New. You see the Add State for Country window.

Index Handling #

SICS lets you create index tables, index rows, and lets you record index points for the rows. An index table is the index type, such as, for example, Inflation Index. The table consists of one or more index rows. Each row has its base index date and a set of index points.

Create Index Tables #

When you first select Indexes from the Properties list on the left-hand side of the Country Properties window, there won’t be any information recorded.

To create the first index table:

1. Click the Index Table display list.
2. Select Add Table from the pop-up menu. You see the Add Country Index window for the country you are working with.

From this window you can select the Table Type and the Index Source from drop-down lists. You can only create one table per type (that is, only one Inflation Index). The Index Table Status is Active by default.

Note! You can only create one table per type

The next step is to create the first index row. This is done by adding a Base Index Date and index points for this date. The Value is set to 100 by default.

Create Index Points #

To create Index points:

1. From the Country Properties window, click the display list (showing year and months) at the bottom of the window.
2. Select Properties from the pop-up. You see the View Country Index Properties window.

3. From the View Country Index Properties window, select the required Table Type from the drop-down list.
4. Select the required row by selecting the relevant Base Index Date from the drop-down list.
5. Click the Edit Menu button and select Add Index Point. You see the Add Index Point window.

6. Record the Point Date and the actual point.

You can only record one point at a time. The system only allows one point per month. You cannot create points for a future date or for rows that are closed.

Create Index Rows #

Sometimes an index table is “reset” after a number of years; and index points are restarting from 100 as of a new base index date.

When this happens you need to first close the existing row, and then create a new index row for the same table; providing both the new base index date, as well as the conversion factor back to the previous row.

Only one row should be open at a time.

Display of Index Points #

When you select an Index Table and a Base Index Date on the Country Properties window, the lower half of the window lists all recorded points for that base index date. You can enter any other date as your base index date, and the system recalculates all points according to the new base index date. For this to function, however, you must have recorded a point for the chosen date.

Click Calculate to view the new figures.

Click Refresh to return to the original figures.

Create Areas #

An Area is a group of countries. SICS lets you create areas to help classify your business geographically.

To create an area, click the Areas tab of the Locations window. Then, click in the display list, and select New from the pop-up menu. You see the Create Area window.

Name: Type in a name for the area you are creating.

Code: Type in a code for the area.

Type: Use the drop-down list to select an area type.

Members: Add member countries to the area by clicking the Members tab, and selecting the countries that you want to be part of the group. (You can do so by double-clicking an item in the Available Countries column to move it to the Selected Countries column. Or, you can use the right arrow button to move selected items from the Available column to the Selected column.)

After you create an area, you see it listed on the Areas tab on the Locations window. You can select an item from the list, click the right mouse button, and select one of the following:

Edit to open up the Area Properties window and make changes to the area. (You can change the name, the code, the type, or the area members.)

Inactivate/Activate to change the active status of the area. (You cannot delete an area here, but you can choose to give it an inactive status.)

Display to choose whether you want to see a list of active areas, inactive areas, or both.

After you have created an area, its member countries show that area listed in their Country Properties window. (Select Areas from the Properties list, and you see the areas in which that country is a member in the display on the right-hand side of the window.)

To add or remove a country from an existing area, select Edit Area Assignment from the pop-up menu. You see the Add Area to Country window where you can add (or remove) a country to an existing area. When you move an item from the Available list to the Selected list, the country becomes a member of that area.