On 26 August 2010, the European Commisson (the Commission) opened a competition investigation into the maritime insurance sector, in particular the agreements between the Protection & Indemnity (P&I) Clubs within the International Group of P&I Clubs (the International Group), a worldwide association of thirteen P&I Clubs. read more
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The fifth Quantitative Impact Study on the Solvency II implementing measures (QIS5) was launched by the European Commission (the Commission) on 23 August 2010. The study will run until November 2010 and the Commission notes that it is aiming for a participation rate of at least 60% of EU insurance and reinsurance companies and 75% of EU insurance groups. Of particular importance to the Commission is participation by smaller insurance companies and insurance providers specialised in specific business lines. read more
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On 18 August 2010 the UK Ministry of Justice launched a "Call for Evidence and Views" to inform its response to a European Commission Green Paper on a European contract law. read more
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In Robert Bacon v Nacional Suiza Cia Seguros Y Reseguros SA [2010] EWHC 2017 (QB), Mr Justice Tomlinson, in a preliminary issue hearing, was asked to determine (i) the grounds why Spanish law was applicable to the Defendant's liability; and (ii) the issue of liability itself. read more
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On 19 July 2010, the FSA sent a letter to UK insurance firms reminding them of the requirement that terms in legal expenses insurance must not detract from, or qualify in any way, an insured's freedom to choose a lawyer. read more
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Proposed legislation that would limit a tax deduction for reinsurance premiums paid to a foreign affiliate of a US insurer has drawn the formal opposition of the German government. Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, in a recent letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI), said that the so-called Neal Bill (HR 3424) “goes well beyond” the undisputed goal of combatting tax avoidance and evasion and, as a result, conflicts with provisions of the German-US tax treaty. read more
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On 14 July 2010, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) published its draft advice on equivalence assessments to be undertaken in relation to three areas of the Solvency II directive, being reinsurance, group supervision and group solvency. CEIOPS proposes that in its first wave of assessments, Bermuda and Switzerland should be considered for equivalence in all of these areas and Japan in respect of reinsurance only. read more
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EAPD's own Ambereen Salamat and Chris Collins were asked by Complinet in its Mid-Year Roundup what the biggest regulatory and compliance challenge this year will be and above all, Solvency II was the resounding response. read more
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On 14 June 2010, the European Commission published a consultation document on the options for dealing with short selling. We have reported previously on the CESR report on short selling published in March 2010 ( click here for our post). read more
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On 29 April 2010, European Advocate General Kokott gave her opinion in the case of Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd & Akcros Chemicals Ltd v European Commission. She was asked to consider whether " the protection of communications between lawyers and their clients ('legal professional privilege'), guaranteed as a fundamental right under the law of the European Union, also extended to internal exchanges of opinions and information between the management of an undertaking and an 'enrolled in-house lawyer' employed by that undertaking?" read more
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EAPD's Mark Meyer and Brian Green are attending the Aviation Insurance Association's Annual Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The conference is well-attended and informative. There were several interesting CIE sessions on Sunday, including a discussion of the criminalization of aviation accidents. Our speaker explained that the trend is that in Europe and Latin America, investigations into accidents also often included criminal investigations, and sometimes indictments, of the pilots, flight controllers and others who were claimed to be involved in the accident. read more
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According to an estimate provided by Lloyd’s of London, over £6.2 billion worth of insurance coverage has been purchased by individuals and entities in connection with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which begins today. Over half of that amount is for coverage for stadiums and training facilities, which reflects the vast amount of money that has been spent constructing and upgrading stadiums ($5.5 billion, according to the New York Times). read more
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We have reported previously on the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA)'s short selling disclosure rules, most recently as consultation on its implementation of the UK's Financial Services Act 2010 ( click here to read our post). In that consultation, the FSA noted that the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) was consulting on a Pan-European regime. read more
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Solvency II will be delayed until 31 December 2012, the EU has confirmed. read more
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On 12 April 2010, the IAIS published a guidance paper on the "treatment of non-regulated entities in group-wide supervision" (the Guidance), which is available here.
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Eithne McCarthy, from the Financial Services Unit of the European Commission's Competition Directorate General ( DG Comp), made a presentation on the new Insurance Block Exemption Regulation ( BER) to the Law Society's Competition Section on 13 April 2010. read more
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On 15 April 2010, the European Commission (Commission) published for consultation draft technical specifications for the QIS5 exercise. read more
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As the Eyjafjallajökull volcano continues to erupt and the dust cloud over much of Europe continues to hang in the air, approximately 16,000 flights each day are being canceled without any certainty as to when normal flight schedules can resume. read more
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On 31 March 2010, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors ( CEIOPS) published the first of its Level 3 guidance for Solvency II. read more
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The European Company Statute (Regulation 2157/2001, which is directly applicable in EU member states) was adopted on 8 October 2001 and came into force on 8 October 2004. It required the Commission to report on its application five years after coming into force. The Commission published its consultation on 23 March 2010, together with a report by external consultants. read more
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On 24 March 2010, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted its long-awaited new block exemption regulation for the insurance sector, which will come into force on 1 April 2010. Block exemptions are an instrument of European competition law that remove certain categories of agreement from the prohibition of anticompetitive agreements set out in Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (previously Article 81 EC Treaty). read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has recently published the findings of its EU-wide stress test exercise for the insurance sector. read more
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As a first step in the European Commission's delayed review of the Insurance Mediation Directive (the Directive) the Commission has written to the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) requesting technical advice on revisions to the Directive to improve its functioning. read more
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The head of the Insurance and Pensions Unit at the European Commission, Karel Van Hulle, confirmed that a meeting had been scheduled in early May to discuss extending the current October 2012 implementation deadline for the Solvency II regulatory regime to 1 January 2013. read more
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Research carried out by a team at the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands on ten people with malignant mesothelioma has shown that a vaccine may aid victims of the disease. read more
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The High Court ruled, in Clinton David Jacobs v Motor Insurers' Bureau [2010] EWHC 231 (QB), that under European Union Regulation 864/2007 (Rome II), Spanish law applied in the case of a UK resident seeking compensation for serious injuries sustained in Spain, at the hands of an uninsured driver, then resident in Spain. read more
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At The Insider Scope 2010 seminar in London on 10 February 2010, Joe Plumeri, Chairman and Chief Executive of Willis - and "Number 1 Fan" of the insurance industry - put forward his outlook for the (re)insurance industry. During his speech, Mr Plumeri set out his "Top Ten Risks in 2010". read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors ( CEIOPS) has recently published its final set of advice on Solvency II Level 2 Implementing Measures and the first consultation on Level 3 Guidance. read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has recently announced that it has agreed to further enhance supervisory cooperation with the Swiss insurance supervisor, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). read more
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The criminal proceedings in Turin against the former heads of asbestos giant Eternit ( as previously reported here) have taken a new turn. A civil case has been linked to the criminal trial and both the European Union (EU) and the Italian Government have been named as civil defendants. It has been reported that 4,000 people have asked to join the case as plaintiffs, and 3,000 people are due to give evidence.
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On 15 January 2010, the Internal Market Directorate General of the European Commission published for consultation a paper by the Centre for European Policy Studies entitled " Tying and other potentially unfair commercial practices in the retail financial service sector". read more
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In an interview with Bloomberg, Chaucer's chief executive officer Bob Stuchbery has indicated that Chaucer will consider redomiciliation out of the UK this year, noting that he would much prefer that Chaucer remained in the UK under a more competitive corporation tax environment. read more
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As previously reported here, the European Commission (the Commission) published its revised draft BER for the insurance sector on 5 October 2009. Regular followers of the blog will recall that the draft regulation proposes to renew two of the four categories of agreements exempted by the current BER, namely information exchange and insurance pools, with certain amendments. read more
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On 30 October 2009, the European Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) published a statement reporting on the results of its analysis of the application of disclosure requirements related to financial instruments in the 2008 financial statements of 96 listed European banks and insurers, including 22 in the FTSE Eurotop index. read more
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recently released its judgment in the case of Swiss Re Germany Holding GmbH v Finanzamt München für Körperschaften, confirming that a transfer of a portfolio of life reinsurance contracts, outside of a business transfer, will be subject to value-added tax (VAT) at the standard rate. read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has announced that it will run an EU-wide stress test for Europe's largest insurers during December. It is expected that large (re)insurers such as Hannover Re, Munich Re and Allianz will be tested. read more
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On 2 November 2009, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) released its third set of advice on Solvency II Level 2 implementing measures. read more
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In December 2008, Michael Foot (formerly of the Bank of England, the FSA and the Central Bank of the Bahamas) was appointed by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer to identify the opportunities and challenges facing the British Crown Dependencies (Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey) and six Overseas Territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Turks and Caicos Islands). read more
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EAPD Partner Helen Clark is attending the AIDA Europe Conference in Zurich today, where the focus of discussions is on Insurance & Reinsurance in Europe: the Future Challenges. read more
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On 5 October the European Commission (the Commission) published its revised draft BER for the insurance sector. read more
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The European Commission announced on 23 September 2009 the adoption of legislative proposals to strengthen financial supervision in Europe in the wake of the global financial crisis. read more
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British Insurance Law Association (BILA) at which members of the Restatement of European Insurance Law Project Group presented the public launch of the Principles of European Insurance Contract Law (PEICL). read more
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On 2 July 2009, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) released their second set of advice on Solvency II Level 2 implementing measures. The first set of advice was released on 26 March 2009 ( available by clicking here) and the third and final set of advice is expected in November 2009. read more
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CEIOPS, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors, has published a report on securitisation in the insurance sector. read more
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The European Commission has published a report and a green paper on the application of EC Regulation No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the Regulation). Copies of the report and the green paper can be found here and here. read more
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Aon recently released an updated “Terrorism Threat Map” in which it indicates the current threat of terrorist attacks across the world. The Map, which is available here, shows a trend towards fewer terrorist attacks in the Middle East but increased activity in southeast Asia. read more
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CESR has published its final report into the progress that EU based credit rating agencies' (CRAs) have made in complying with the International Organisation of Securities Commission's 2008 Code of Conduct Fundamentals for Credit Rating Agencies (the IOSCO Code). read more
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The European Commission has adopted a Communication on Financial Supervision in Europe aimed at driving European recovery in the financial sector (the Communication). read more
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We have previously reported on two consultation papers issued by the European Commission on the regulation of credit rating agencies ( click here for our earlier post). The consultation process culminated in the publication of draft regulations (the Regulations). On 23 April the European Commission announced that the Regulations had been approved by the European Parliament and the European Council.
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We recently reported that the Solvency II directive had been approved by the European Parliament ( see the post here). The final stage of the European legislative process has now been completed with the European Commission adopting the directive on Tuesday 5 May. The implementation date, by which each of the EU member states must bring into force implementing regulations, is stated in the directive to be 31 October 2012.
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On 22 April 2009 the European Parliament approved the proposed Solvency II directive. This brings implementation of the regime in October 2012 another step closer. read more
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In light of the current financial crisis, the CEA, the European Insurance and Reinsurance federation, has stressed the importance of reforming the regulation and supervision of the financial services industry. The CEA suggested that the crisis suffered within the financial markets has had a lesser impact on the insurance industry and, for that reason, most insurers do not require the same state assistance that has been provided to the banking industry. It also warned against over-regulation. read more
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Following agreement on the Solvency II Directive framework ( see our blog here), a recent CEIOPS Members Meeting held on 25/26 March 2009 has identified the importance of the implementation of the Solvency II regime.
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The trial has begun in Turin, Italy of two former heads of Eternit, Stephan Schmidheiny and Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne, who are accused of failing to ensure adequate safety standards at the asbestos plants run by Eternit in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s. read more
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In a letter to the G20 members, the Geneva Association, an organization comprised of CEOs from the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance companies, provided recommendations for more effective regulation of the insurance and reinsurance industry, along with information and analysis regarding the differences between the insurance and reinsurance industry and that of the banking industry. read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pension Supervisors (CEIOPS) will conduct a fifth quantitative impact study (QIS) in order to gather input for measures relating to the implementation of the Solvency II directive in 2012. read more
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The Solvency II framework directive has finally been agreed and the proposals are expected to be formally passed in the next six weeks by both the European Parliament and the European and Financial Affairs Council (a subset of the Council of Ministers). read more
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The European Commission has stated in a report, adopted on 24 March 2009, that two of the four forms of cooperation benefiting from the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation (the "BER") may continue to be protected under a partially renewed BER when the current one expires on 31 March 2010. read more
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The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has backed the proposed creation of a European body to act as "supervisor of supervisors" across the EU as part of regulatory reform, and put forward five key principles in order to help ensure that reforms bring benefits for consumers. read more
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On March 9, 2009, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (“IAIS”) released an Issues Paper on Group-Wide Solvency Assessment and Supervision (the “Issues Paper”). The purpose of the Issues Paper is to serve as a framework for the development of future papers providing guidance on group-wide solvency assessment and supervision on a global scale. read more
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We reported last week on the publication of the de Larosière Report on financial supervision in the EU (you can see that post by clicking here). The European Commission has now published its own proposals for radical reform of the regulatory and supervisory regime in Europe.
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The UK Treasury Department has published a summary of the responses to its joint consultation with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on the implementation of the Acquisitions Directive (2007/44/EC). read more
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The high-level group on financial supervision in the EU, chaired by Jacques de Larosière, published an initial report recommending 'repair' of the oversight of financial services across Europe. In addition to de Larosière, the group is composed of seven senior European figures from the financial services industry and its regulators, including Leszek Balcerowicz, former president of the National Bank of Poland, and Callum McCarthy, former chairman of the UK's Financial Services Authority. read more
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We have reported previously on moves in the United States to regulate the credit default swaps (CDS) market (our most recent post can be found by clicking here. read more
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The Pan European Insurance Forum (PEIF) issued a paper on 12 February 2009 giving its regulatory recommendations for the insurance industry in the wake of the economic downturn. The PEIF is a group of CEOs of major European insurance companies such as Aegon, Allianz, Aviva, AXA, Generali, ING, Mapfre, Munich Re, RSA, Swiss Re, Uniqa and Zurich Financial Services. In this paper, the PEIF considers the impact on the European insurance industry and makes policy recommendations to combat the crisis. read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) recently published a report on the results of its survey on the practical supervisory co-operation by Coordination Committees under the Solvency I framework. The survey was sent to the 'lead' supervisors of all 110 cross-border insurance groups. read more
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In September 2008 we reported on the advisory opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Allianz SpA v West Tankers regarding the English courts' ability to issue anti-suit injunctions in support of arbitration agreements. The Advocate General stated that it was incompatible with EC regulation 44/2001 (Regulation) for a court of a Member State to injunct a person from commencing or continuing proceedings in another Member State on the ground that it would be contrary to an arbitration agreement. read more
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In May 2008, CEIOPS issued a questionnaire to member states on the treatment of third country reinsurers and equivalence measures. CEIOPS' report on the findings to this questionnaire has recently been published. The questionnaire dealt with three elements of the relationship between Member States of the EEA and third countries - the treatment of reinsurance undertakings, equivalence provisions and co-operation agreements. read more
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The European Captive Insurance and Reinsurance Owners' Association (ECIROA) has recently published its comments on CEIOPS' Issues Paper on Implementing Measures on System of Governance. read more
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A key part of the new Solvency II regime, due to come into force in 2012, looks set to be removed or watered down following a recent meeting of the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin). The group supervision and group support proposals approved by the European Parliament would allow assessment of capital and risk across an insurance group and increased co-ordination of the relevant supervisors. read more
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On 27 November 2008, the European Commission (EC) published its Green Paper on Consumer Collective Redress. The paper proposes new methods to help large numbers of consumers who have been harmed by a trader's breach of consumer law. read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has published the full report on its fourth Quantative Impact Study (QIS4) on the proposed Solvency II regime (the Report). read more
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On Tuesday, December 2, 2008, New York State Insurance Department (“NYSID”) Superintendent Eric Dinallo announced that the NYSID entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Autorité de Contrôle des Assurances et des Mutuelles, France’s insurance regulator (“ACAM”). read more
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The European Commission (the Commission) continues to examine whether the insurance industry's Block Exemption Regulation (BER) should continue after 2010. Please see the previous blog for further information on the block exemption by clicking here. read more
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The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has confirmed that it is reviewing the Solvency II supervisory framework project in light of the recent turmoil in financial markets. read more
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CEIOPS recently presented the main findings from QIS4 to stakeholders, ahead of the final report being released on 19 November 2008. read more
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The Reinsurance Directive was adopted in 2005 and was to be implemented by member states no later than 10 December 2007 (with some provisions coming into force by 10 December 2008). Although a number of member states missed the 2007 deadline, most have now completed their implementation or are expected to do so by December 2008. read more
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On 16 October 2008, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) published a consultation document seeking comments in respect of the European Commission's proposal for the creation of European Private Companies, which was published in June 2008. read more
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In Elektrim SA (In Bankruptcy) v Vivendi Universal (& Ors) [2008] EWHC 2155 (Comm) the claimant and defendant companies had entered into an investment agreement governed by Polish law, which contained an arbitration clause providing for arbitration in London. It was common ground that unlike the rest of the investment agreement , the arbitration agreement was governed by English law. read more
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The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament recently approved changes to the text of the Solvency II Directive. The changes included amendments to the group supervision regime so as to ensure that local supervisors of subsidiaries in a group have a greater role in the overall supervision of that group. read more
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The FSA has recently issued a DP in preparation for Solvency II. Entitled "Insurance risk management: The path to Solvency II", the DP explains key elements of the Solvency II regime and identifies areas that UK insurers should be considering over the next 18 months to prepare for implementation in 2012. read more
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CEIOPS has presented its preliminary findings from QIS4 to the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. CEIOPS confirmed that the target participation rates in QIS4 had been exceeded, with 34% of individual EEA insurers and 65% of cross-border groups taking part in the study. read more
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Mr McCreevy noted in a recent speech to the EUROFI Conference in Nice, that discussions on the proposed Solvency II Framework Directive have been progressing at an impressive rate in both the European Council and Parliament. read more
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Following the turbulent events on Wall Street in recent days, the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA) has issued a statement proclaiming the relative health of the European insurance industry. read more
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Earlier today, AIG issued this press release in response to policyholder concerns about the company.
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Corruption of public officials has not been viewed as a significant problem for the insurance industry. That may change. Fighting corruption is high on the international agenda. read more
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Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge's Insurance and Reinsurance Department will host a webinar on the above topic on Monday, September 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM BST. read more
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CEIOPS has published an issues paper on the supervisory review process and undertakings' reporting requirements under Solvency II. ( See: Issues Paper) The issues paper covers some of the main components of Pillar II (concerning the way supervisors conduct their reviews) and Pillar III (supervisory reporting and public disclosure) elements of the Solvency II regime.
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Today, Thursday, August 28, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge's Insurance and Reinsurance Department will host a webinar entitled "Insurance Implications of Climate Change". This 60 minute webinar will comprise a discussion of the global legal framework which recognizes the reality of climate change. read more
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The two consultation papers published by the European Commission (Commission) on 31 July 2008 result from the perception that CRAs contributed to current market turmoil by underestimating the credit risk of structured instruments in which sub prime mortgages were embedded. Many investors relied too heavily on the generally favourable ratings given by CRAs to these products instead of assessing the risk characteristics themselves and assessing performance of the underlying assets. read more
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On Thursday, August 28, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge's Insurance and Reinsurance Department will host a webinar entitled "Insurance Implications of Climate Change". This 60 minute webinar will comprise a discussion of the global legal framework which recognizes the reality of climate change. read more
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On 7 July 2008, the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA) published a response to the European Commission's consultation paper on Insurance Guarantee Schemes (IGS) ( see our previous blog here).
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Last week we reported that Portugal has issued a consultation paper on the implementation of the EU Reinsurance Directive ( see the post here). The transposition deadline was 10 December 2007. Portugal is one of four member states to receive a letter of formal notice from the Commission in relation to its failure to implement the Directive, the others being the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Poland. read more
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In the June edition of Insurance and Reinsurance Review, we reported on the current status of implementation of the Reinsurance Directive across the European Union (the article can be found here. At the time, we reported that Portugal had not yet commenced its public consultation. That consultation has now been commenced, and is open until 8 July 2008.
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On 10 June 2008, the CEA issued a press release stating that it believed that failure to adopt a risk-based approach to the calculation of the MCR would perpetuate the disadvantages of the current regulatory system, Solvency I. Michaela Koller, director general of the CEA, said that, "Approaches to calculating the MCR that are not consistent with the overall system could jeopardise the effectiveness of the whole Solvency II regime" and called for the MCR to be linked to the solvency capital (SCR) requirement so that both reflect the true risk profile of the insurer. The CEA suggested that the MCR should be calculated as a percentage of the SCR. read more
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The insurance regulators in New York and Germany have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which establishes a formal basis for greater co-ordination between the two jurisdictions. read more
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Today is the one-year anniversary of the launch of InsureReinsure.com and we mark the occasion by adding an additional feature for our readers. Beginning today, on the left-hand side of your screen, you will see a new link allowing you to "subscribe" to InsureReinsure.com to receive emails each workday morning with links to the prior day’s posts. read more
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On 28 May the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) published two Papers of final advice to the European Commission for the Solvency II project, entitled "Advice to the European Commission on aspects of the Framework Directive Proposal related to Insurance Groups" and "Advice to the European Commission on the Principle of Proportionality in the Solvency II Framework Directive Proposal". read more
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On 13 May 2008 the European Commission and the United States issued a joint statement through the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), committing themselves to reaching the shared objective of economic integration. This followed a TEC forum on insurance issues such as US reinsurance collateral requirements, the EU's Solvency II directive and the US Treasury Department's recent recommendation of an optional federal charter system for the insurance industry. read more
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On 12 May 2008 the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA) and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) issued a joint statement calling for the formation of an E.U.-U.S. bilateral forum on insurance and reinsurance issues. read more
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We reported on 15 January 2008 on the publication of a study on Insurance Guarantee Schemes (IGS) commissioned by the European Commission (the Commission) ( click here).
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The European insurance and reinsurance federation, the CEA, has responded to two consultation papers issued by the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS ). read more
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Competition issues within the business insurance sector have been much discussed recently. The European Commission published its final report on its inquiry into the business insurance sector on 25 September 2007. The report highlighted some questions regarding premium alignment between lead insurers and followers in the co-insurance market. read more
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A discussion paper on the UK's proposals to reduce the administrative burden on insurance groups operating in the EU was launched on the 22 April 2008 by the Treasury and the FSA. ( See: Discussion Paper) As has previously been discussed in a recent blog, the FSA has recognised the need for further development of the existing arrangements for regulatory cooperation and endorses the idea of cooperation among regulators and the creation of supervisor colleges.
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The Commission has begun a public consultation to investigate the functioning of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation ( BER) and the impact on the various insurance markets in the European Union ( EU). read more
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On 3 April 2008, the European Commission (The Commission) published its long awaited White Paper ( WP) on damages actions for breach of the European Community ( EC) antitrust rules. read more
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The FSA has restated the UKs support for the creation of a single market in financial services in Europe, and has called for further development of the existing arrangements for regulatory cooperation among national regulators. The recommendation was contained in the latest edition of what the FSA described as its 'new look' International Regulatory Outlook (IRO). read more
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In Government of the French Community, and Walloon Government v Flemish Government Case C-212/06, ECJ (Grand Chamber), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) determined that Flemish legislation limiting eligibility to a care insurance scheme was contrary to European provisions concerning the right to freedom of movement within the European Community (EC) in so far as the care insurance scheme included a residence requirement that excluded persons who worked in the Flemish region or in the bilingual Brussels-Capital, but who resided in another part of the national territory (ie the French or German speaking region). read more
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On 26 February 2008, the European Commission issued an amended proposal to the Solvency II Directive Proposal (COM (2007) 361) which was adopted on 10 July 2007. The July 2007 version of the Solvency II Directive Proposal represented a recast of 13 existing Directives in the insurance and reinsurance sector, together with new solvency provisions. read more
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As reported here - CEIOPS Meeting Discusses Draft Advice to European Commission on Key Solvency II Issues], the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has now released it's Consultation Papers of Draft Advice on Aspects of the Framework Directive Proposal related to Proportionality and on Insurance Groups. read more
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A members' meeting of the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) recently discussed two important Solvency II project's draft Advices to the European Commission. read more
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The Association of Insurers and Risk Managers (AIRMIC) has indicated that the EC has softened its position on the London subscription market following the recent Commission Inquiry into business insurance. read more
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Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, recently gave a speech at the Insurance Institute of London about the European Commission's policy priorities for the insurance sector. Solvency II is currently the key project and will remain so until its transposition, which is intended to take place in 2012. read more
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The CEA, the representative organisation for European insurers and reinsurers has called for further impact analysis of Europe's insurance regulation standard Solvency II. The CEA announced at the European Commission public hearing that the latest qualitative impact study (QIS4) on Solvency II needs to align more closely with the framework directive published in July 2007. read more
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Today marks a new beginning at InsureReinsure.com and we want to welcome all of our new readers to this Blog. read more
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Lloyd’s recently issued a press release that it has begun offering a new type of cover – an event cancellation policy that will indemnify insureds for their losses if Christmas is cancelled, postponed, interrupted, curtailed or relocated due to the Grinch’s actions. read more
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The EC has adopted proposals for a directive and a regulation aimed at modernising and simplifying the VAT rules for financial and insurance services. The proposals contain an updated definition of the exempt financial and insurance services. read more
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Member states of the European Union were required to implement Directive 2005/68/EC on Reinsurance (the Reinsurance Directive) by 10 December 2007. read more
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In December 2007, the London office of EAPD held an industry workshop to provide a forum for discussion of the European Commission's Final Report into Business Insurance. The report sets out the findings of the EC's sector commission inquiry into business insurance which was initiated in June 2005. read more
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In order to help prepare the ground for the development of implementing measures once the Solvency II proposal has been adopted, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions (CEIOPS) will run a fourth quantitative impact study between April and July 2008. read more
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Today is the sixth-month anniversary of the launch of InsureReinsure.com and we want to thank all of you for your readership and support. read more
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Over two years ago, the European Commission (“EC”) initiated an inquiry into the state of competition in the European Union (“EU”) business insurance industry. In explaining the purpose of the inquiry, the EC notes in its Final Report that “[t]aking into account indications that competition in this sector within the common market may be restricted or distorted, the sector inquiry aimed at further investigating the sector and the practices concerned with a view to ultimately identifying any concrete restrictive practices or distortions of competition that may fall within the scope of Articles 81 or 82 of the Treaty.” read more
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On June 10, 2007, the European Commission in Strasbourg formally introduced the Solvency II Directive. Solvency II proposes to modify current capital requirements for insurance companies. read more
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Earlier this week, the Reinsurance Task Force (“RTF”) met at the NAIC’s quarterly conference in San Francisco to discuss ways to overhaul reinsurance regulation in the United States thereby reducing collateral charges for nonadmitted reinsurers. read more
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