In its July dashboard, EIOPA (the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) revealed that digitalisation and cyber risks have become one of the most important risks for the European insurance sector, which a risk level equating to market and macro risks. The main driver is cyber security risk, followed by cyber underwriting risk. Elements contributing are the current war between Russia and Ukraine, increased reliance on remote and telework and on digital solutions and infrastructure. In that context, EIOPA published on 24 November 2022 a Discussion Paper on Methodological Principles of Insurance Stress Testing with focus on Cyber Risk. Deadline for response is 28 February 2023. Continue reading…

In the proposals the Commission tabled in September 2021 reviewing the current Solvency II directive, a series of new macro-prudential tools have been introduced. Among those, a new Article 144 c has been put forward. According to its title, the article concerns “Supervisory measures to preserve the financial position of undertakings during exceptional market-wide shocks”. The current Solvency II directive only has provisions regarding supervisory powers in deteriorating financial conditions of individual (re)insurance undertakings (article 141). To avoid a repetition of the regulatory bricolage witnessed during (the early days of) the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ink spilled on this topic, the Commission has now provided this solution. Continue reading…

Following changes in 2019 in the Solvency II directive, EIOPA has the power to set up and coordinate collaboration platforms to enhance collaboration between the relevant supervisory authorities where a (re)insurance undertaking carries out, or intends to carry out, cross-border activities based on the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment. For these platforms, the criterium is not significant cross-border activity from the point of view of the home supervisor, but relevance to the host Member State market. Around ten of these platforms have been set up since then. However, in several cases, according to the European Commission, supervisors have failed to reach a common view on how to address issues related to such cross-border business. Hence, the European Commission proposes to further enhance EIOPA’s role: the home supervisor must inform EIOPA and the relevant host supervisors if it identifies deteriorating financial conditions or other emerging risks which may have a cross-border effect. The host supervisor may notify EIOPA and the home supervisor if it has serious consumer protection concerns. The idea is to find a bilateral solution between home and host supervisors while EIOPA stands ready on the side Will that work? This is part two of Lieve Lowet’s latest blog on Solvency II (see related items for part 1). Continue reading…

Since the introduction of Solvency II, there have been very few failures in the insurance sector. Because some failures had cross-border consequences, there has been pressure to change the present regulatory regime in order to give more powers to host supervisors and to EIOPA. Although the functioning of the internal market in insurance can certainly be improved, care must be taken not to overload the barge and to respect the approach that was agreed in the nineties for all financial service operators, i.e. a single market with a single license (European passport) and home country control. Failures are in a way a proof that market mechanisms are working. But in the financial services area, failures are more undesirable than in the rest of the services sector, especially in a cross-border context exercised via the freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide services (FPS). Despite the fact that Solvency II was not conceived as a zero-failure regime and that few failures have occurred in practice, the European Commission, pushed by EIOPA, is proposing important amendments to the present regime for insurers that operate cross-border, justified by supervisory shortcomings and a varying degree of policyholder protection across the EU following these failures. This is part one of Lieve Lowet’s latest blog posts on Solvency II. Part 2 will be published this Wednesday. Continue reading…