Update on Swiss and Bermudian Solvency II equivalence
On 24 September 2015 the Commission Delegated Decision
((EU)/2015/1062) was published confirming equivalence of the
solvency and prudential regime for (re)insurers in Switzerland from
1 January 2016.
For a link to the report, please click here.
EIOPA publish opinion on 3rd country group solvency
calculation
An opinion on approaches by group supervisors to third country
capital requirements has been published by EIOPA. This opinion
concerns the requirements to be used for calculating group solvency
for insurance groups operating in a Solvency II equivalent third
country.
For a link to the speech, please click here.
EIOPA Chairman speaks about dos and don'ts of Solvency
II
The Chairman of EIOPA has expressed his views on the
"do's and don'ts of Solvency II" at a recent
conference in Slovenia. The Chairman stated that while there are
risks associated with Solvency II, there are also opportunities.
The Chairman expressed his opinion that Solvency II is a game
changer in situations where supervisors need to move toward
risk-based supervision.
For a link to the speech, please click here.
New Solvency II rules on infrastructure investment by
insurers
The EU has made a number of proposals concerning amendments to
the Solvency Rules II. The proposal follows the publication of a
final report by EIOPA. The EU has proposed that;
(i) in order for an asset to constitute a qualifying infrastructure
investment, a number of criteria must be satisfied, including:
- the investment must be made directly in an "infrastructure project entity"; and
- the cash flows that the infrastructure project entity generates for investors must be "predictable".
(ii)Investors must benefit from a contractual framework that provides a high degree of protection. In order to satisfy this requirement there must be:
- protection against losses arising from termination by the ultimate purchaser of the infrastructure project; and
- sufficient reserve funds or other financial arrangements to cover the contingency funding and working capital requirements of the project.
For qualifying infrastructure investments in bonds or loans.
Further requirements apply.
For a link to the proposals, please click here.
Solvency II Preparatory Phase Reporting goes
"Live"
The Central Bank is now open to receive formal submissions of
Solvency II preparatory phase reporting via their Online Reporting
System.
For a link, please click here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.