The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said it will not make changes to life assurances in the next six months, to avoid further upsetting the situation around stock and bond markets, the Financial Times reports.
Changes planned could mean life assurers would have to hold more capital and downgrade assumptions of returns on investments.
However, this could mean that prices would be driven down and assets sold as insurers are obliged to sell bonds and equities.
According to the newspaper, the six-month reprieve was agreed with the Association of British Insurers and is hoped to give equity and bond markets time to recover and settle.
Meanwhile, the FSA has said current regulation for hedge funds is sufficient and there is no need for new rules.
Speaking at the Hedge 2008 conference, chief executive Hector Sants added that he believed hedge fund managers were coping well with the downturn.
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