The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) invites market participants and (re)insurance stakeholders to provide their feedback on its draft Advice to the European Commission (EC) regarding the full equivalence assessments of Bermuda, Japan and Switzerland.
EIOPA's Advice is expected to allow the EC to take informed decisions in 2015 on whether solvency and prudential regimes in Bermuda, Japan and Switzerland are equivalent to the Solvency II framework.
The Solvency II equivalence criteria are based on the overarching principles of Solvency II and include requirements relating to the system of governance, professional secrecy and the exchange of information, effective risk management, solvency, and powers and responsibilities of supervisory authorities.
The consultation will end on 23 January 2015. Please note that comments submitted after the deadline or not submitted on the provided template cannot be processed.
The consultation papers and the templates for comments can be viewed here.
Background
The Solvency II Directive recognises the fact that insurance is a global industry. To avoid unnecessary duplication of regulation, Solvency II allows the European Commission to decide about the equivalence of a third country's solvency and prudential regime. Positive equivalence findings are mutually beneficial to European Economic Area (EEA) and third country (re)insurers. Equivalence findings promote open international insurance markets, whilst simultaneously ensuring that policy holders are adequately protected globally.
In October 2011, EIOPA provided the European Commission with 3 draft reports regarding the Solvency II equivalence of the Swiss, Bermudian and Japanese supervisory regimes. In line with the EC's request, the Swiss and Bermudian regimes have been assessed for Article 172 (reinsurance supervision), Article 227 (group solvency calculation) and Article 260 (group supervision) of the Solvency II Directive. The assessment of the Japanese supervisory regime only relates to Article 172.
In February 2014, the EC requested EIOPA to update the equivalence advice for these three countries.
