Of Special Interest
- "It's All About the Customer" the theme for the latest IBM/Shillito white paper
- Survey indicates state of ERM development amongst insurers globally
- Capgemini World Insurance Report focuses on the customer experience and emerging distribution channels
- EIOPA launches technical assessment of Solvency II long-term guarantee package
- EIU/BNY Mellon report highlights global issues for insurers
- Report looks at two issues facing insurer CEOs globally
- EIOPA publishes Opinion on Solvency II interim measures
- The Global Insurance Week
- Report reviews priorities for US p&c insurers in 2013
- EIOPA publishes latest financial stability report
- Swiss Re study reviews global market prospects for 2013
- EIOPA exploring possibility of interim stage for Solvency II
- Research indicates rising cost of regulatory cost for UK general insurers
- Accenture global survey indicates insurance equity analysts' expectations and issues
- KPMG suggests a way forward for Solvency II
- Survey indicates insurer progress on Solvency II
- FSA publishes Journey to the FCA paper
- Global Federation of Insurance Associations formed
- EIOPA pushes Barnier on Solvency II timetable clarification
- OFT refers UK motor insurance market for review by Competition Commission
- Solvency II delay now seems inevitable
- Prudential survey indicates changing UK customer choice of advice approach
- Keeping up with regulatory change in UK financial services an increasing overhead
- Men prefer telematics more than women says survey
- HSBC - Gulliver's position untenable?
- Libor, the BBA and Thomson Reuters
- IAIS releases paper on Reinsurance and Financial Stability
- Upcoming financial regulatory structure in UK gets cool reception
- ACORD sponsored survey looks at the growing importance of analytics
- Monitise completes on Clairmail acquisition
- Leading insurer ceos give views on market challenges
- EIOPA publishes final draft guidelines for ORSA
- Bank of China chairman speaks on international expansion
- EIOPA publishes final report on Solvency II reporting but....
- US insurer priorities reviewed in survey
- IAIS releases latest draft for supervision of international insurers
- Crédit Agricole uses ACI for payments system overhaul
- Wake up call for UK commercial insurance sector?
- IBM, Analytics, social media and financial services
- 51% of insurers changing measurement of capital adequacy under Solvency II says survey
- 80% Of Goldman growth will arise from BRIC nations
- EIOPA says majority of European insurers well capitalised but...
- BlackRock forecasts Greek loan writeoff at €30bn
- New UK regulator suggests ending 'free' banking
- Société Générale Bank & Trust live with FRSGlobal
- New UK business finance website
- Europe to lead on telematics says report
- Spanish bank plan
- Significance of the JPM trading losses
- Geneva Association reports on global ageing issues and the role of insurance
- Report highlights action being taken by UK insurers in readiness for Solvency II
- UK personal lines insurers provide poor online user experience says survey
- OCBC ranked strongest bank in world - again
- European insurers must move from risk measurement to real risk management to achieve a return on Solvency II investment says report
- Solvency II survey indicates UK insurers have still much to do-majority say start date will be delayed
- WiproTechnologies-on the global insurance stage
- JPM prepaid card bank account a trend-setter
- Estimate of additional Spanish bank capital needed
- First US approval for Chinese bank purchase
- Accenture and Duck Creek solutions together add value
- UBS clients use iPad to design trading algorithms
- Engagement Banking
- US ExPats giving up nationality to save tax
- PayTag turns any mobile into contactless pay device
- CHARGE Anywhere NFC card acceptance via BlackBerry
- SAS-helping insurers to understand their business
- SWIFT launches Sanctions Screening
- Study predicts telematics take off in UK
- SWIFT guide on moving to Sepa
- Monitise buys Clairmail
- QlikTech-placing agile analytics in the hands of the business user
- BRIC countries boost bank business lending - G8 lowers it
- The Met Office says Atlantic hurricane fluctuations connected to industrial air pollution
- PayPal phone to card acceptance device converter
- Pingit P2P now open to customers of all UK banks
- Telematics statistics indicate further good news
- SAS launches Visual Analytics
- IBM / Citigroup deal to use IBM Watson
- Telematics growing in interest in UK amongst consumers says survey
- BTG Pactual listing will be one of largest
- Most of UK life insurers sheltered from eurozone sovereign debt crisis says Fitch
- Global insurer IT spend to increase after decline says report
- Geneva Association reviews catastrophic year and looks forward
- Solvency II goes too far says survey
- Predictive analytics at heart of SAS updated AML tool
- Policy administration modernisation is next priority says survey
- HDFC mobile banking with Monitise and Visa
- Insurers falling behind other sectors in customer service says survey
- Western Union payment deals with 26 mobile wallet providers
- Global ceo survey indicates key reasons for growth being held back
- HSBC to exit Japan retail
- Vodafone - Visa announce global mobile wallet
- More on Telefónica and MasterCard LatAm JV
- BBVA-Google first combined forecasts
- SEPA payments date set as 1st February 2014
- Gibraltar plan to attract more funds
- EIOPA issues 2012 Action Plan for Colleges of Supervisors
- Glory ATM manufacturer buys Talaris
- Insurers could look towards alternative asset classes because of Solvency II says survey
- European regulator warns politicians on Solvency II potential delay
- UK insurers need to place more emphasis on product features says report
- US Bank bail out in disguise?
- US issues millionth EMV Visa card
- Citigroup to end mortgage brokerage intros
- US Bancorp $440m renewable investment
- Difficult decisions ahead for European insurers says Ernst & Young report
- The MGAA-providing timely support for UK underwriting agencies
- 2012 US Auto Claims Satisfaction study published
- Local support for Thailand Catastrophe Fund plan
- US Prosecutors charge Wegelin with assisting tax evasion
- Digital cash for the digital wallet
- Eric Daniels to join StormHarbour
- SunTrust acquires FirstAgain for loan platform
- S&P maintains stable outlook on reinsurance market
- FIS announces POS mobile wallet
- Credit Agricole opens app store
- Half of Visa Europe transactions on mobile by 2020
- BBVA and Google try to improve forecasting for clients
- Deloitte publishes 2012 Global Insurance Outlook report
- BBVA goes to the Google Cloud
- Geneva Association reviews three key issues for the global insurance industry
- Treasury Committee motor insurance report creates comment
- World Economic Forum Global Risks 2012 report published
- IBM Joins Bank Information Architecture Network
- No delay on Basel III liquidity - peer review introduced
- Further delay over Solvency II
- Itaú Unibanco Latin America expansion
- Reawakening ATM standard cassette initiative
- EIOPA issues financial stability report
- Ernst & Young outlines five success strategies for US p&c insurers
- IBM 10 year infrastructure deal with La Caixa
- Only 20% of actuaries and insurance finance managers completely confident in data control processes and spreadsheets says research
- Fitch predicts future trend for US broker market
- Swiss Re reviews emerging markets
- SocGen CIB exec team changes
- RBS investment banking downsizing
- Nigeria limits cash usage to boost Mpayments
- eBay acquires German BillSAFE
- Nigerian mobile money licences
- IBM help for Kenyan banking
- BNP Paribas and IBM extend infrastructure JV
- Monitise and FIS strategic partnership
- PayPal Swedish contactless POS trial
- PayPal to join discount coupon bandwagon
- Morgan Stanley $1.8bn writedown
- State Street exits UK & German bonds
- Swiss Re sigma study reviews catastrophe costs
- Aon Benfield publishes report on China p&c and reinsurance market
- US life industry faces challenges says report
- NBNK may bid for Yorkshire & Clydesdale
- Swiss Re predicts bluer skies from 2013
- Long term investment move away from Equities
- MoneyGram / ICBC remittance deal
- Algorithmics reporting for wealth management
- Western Union starts UK prepaid services
- Launch of Western Union Small Business Payments
- LIMRA reviews US consumer life insurance buying trends
- A.M.Best stress tests insurers exposure to eurozone debt
- 4 bids possible for RBS Aviation
- Takefuji restructure plan in doubt
- Raiffeisen told to consider dual-listing
- Hedge fund chief backs Financial Transaction Tax
- PayPal 6 fold increase in mobile payments over Thanksgiving
- Women are greater online fraud risk claim
- Sovereign bonds revised capital risk charges unlikely to be incorporated in Solvency II in near term says Fitch
- Survey indicates major issues for London Market players
- Deutsche Bank Asset Management part sale?
- Social media central to SunGards mobile platform
- Google Wallet boost from Checkout
- Defaqto survey indicates vital role of financial advisers
- Global survey reveals insurers could improve services to customers
- S & P highlights regulatory change for UK life insurers presents challenges but there are long term opportunities
- Deutsche Borse / NYSE derivatives proposal
- Swiss / US comprehensive tax treaty
- Buffet sees value in financial services stock prices
- New UBS CEO halves investment banking - sets financial targets
- Visa Digital wallet branded V.Me
- Social Media to inpact insurance market says report
- Credit Agricole / Visa microSD NFC contactless payment
- IBM offers mobile device security
- MasterCard and Intel online & NFC security alliance
- Barclays insurance deals with Aviva and Legal & General
- PayPal Android App includes NFC P2P
- Volcker rule too complicated
- Only 48% of UK and US consumers trust their insurance provider says survey
- Guy Carpenter reviews Asia Pacific catastrophe scenario
- Dodd Frank cheat sheet
- simplytap - mobile purchase by entering just 2 codes
- BoA to sell more of China Construction stake?
- Lloyds Banking appoints acting CEO serving notice period
- SocGen creating UK online bank using Selftrade
- Total loss customer satisfaction lower says US auto insurance study
- FIS to process Discover network cards
- Barclays profits YTD UP on corporate and DVA
- Visa Europe and FIS take stake in Monitise
- Alfa Bank offers first contactless payments in Russia
- Banks and the Euro crisis deal
- IBM Security division formed
- CommBank Kaching multi-payment mobile app
- Norton Rose reviews financial institutions globally
- Fiserv unified wealth platform available
- British Arab Commercial deploys IBM risk analytics
- US Card issuers pile back into sub-prime
- CEA opposes US bills relating to taxing of foreign insurers
- RDT spreads its wings
- Google wallet open for all banks
- Equifax to Offer First Data Confidence Score Solution
- Misys launches market Risk Solution
- JPMorgan Q3 profit down a little
- TSYS renews outsourcing deal with Capital One
- Fitch reviews UK life sector
- Mobile banking software ranked
- UK websites compared for speed and how it affects purchase
- More Brits use online banking than use Facebook or Tweet
- Tesco confirm core banking system problems
- SMFG unit moves systems development to Ireland
- Global IPO value down 46% on year ago
- SMBC tender for Promise
- The mobile wallet reaches Papua New Guinea
- NBNK only bidder to meet deadline for Lloyds branches
- Fiserv launches bank risk analysis tool
- Fusion-io speeds up Deutsche credit risk calculation
- European epayment rules anti-competitive investigation
- Capital One social gaming spend
- MUFG electronic management of syndicated Loans
- Google Wallet live in US
- Laying down the rules for Volcker
- UBS rogue trading - story so far
- John Mack retires at year end from Morgan Stanley
- Mobile payments may exceed 15bn in 2013
- Future of UK retail banking final report
- Monitise virtual card anti-fraud offering
- Egypts first major M&A deal since revolution
- BoA in syndicate to fund solar power for military dwellings
- Bank of America executive changes
- NBNK confirms talks - shares suspended
- Insurers to spend more on IT says research
- NBNK to buy Lloyds branches, Clydesdale & Yorkshire banks?
- LSE to buy LCH.Clearnet?
- SunGard completes on FINACE
- BNY Mellon replaces CEO
- RBS strategic relationship with Monitise
- IBM to Acquire Algorithmics
- IBM 10 banking deals within CEE region
- Dexia may struggle without state aid
- ICBC profits continue to rise
- CFS negligible profit UK Co-op bank loss
- Monitise granted Nigerian Mobile Payment licence
- Accenture buys US Mortgage processor
- Banks must work harder to attract 'Facebook Generation'
- Banks borrowed $1.2tr of secret US federal funds
- HSBC T&B bidding for parts of WestLB
- Rethinking of US infrastructure bank
- India Post-bank soon?
- RBS bigger loss - underlying progress
- Swiss / German withholding tax - template for future?
- NCR Bill Pay Kiosks
- Visa to chip its cards in the US
- Useful stats on the UK smartphone market
- Elavon to accept China Unionpay cards
- IBM & Security First in Cloud Security venture
- HSBC - expense cuts not straight to the bottom line
- Moody's AAA for Footballer Ronaldo as collateral
- Hugh Osmond is 3rd bidder for Lloyds branches
- Berchtold & Meister to head Credit Suisse Private Banking
- TStone & Flowers joint bid for Woori?
- UK banks retail market share
- New CEOs and Chairman at Deutsche Bank
- Rothschild investing Chinese funds in other countries
- VITAband wristband - the future of contactless payment?
- Citi gains as loan losses fall
- The lesson from the European stress test.
- Citi may keep store card unit
- JPMorgan profits boosted loan loss reductions and Investment banking
- Friday night is European stress test result night
- Banking Industry Architecture Network grows
- Business & law enforcement form new anti-Cybercrime org.
- PayPal buys Zong
- IBM to provide Garanti Bankasi with new servers
- Deutsche Borse invests in FX technology derivatives co
- New IBM white paper on client centricity and reducing risk
- Stay Agile and Stand Out in Changing Insurance Markets
- UK Airlines surcharge for debit card banned - overall ban may follow
- Fed generous to card issuers on Durbin cap
- HSBC cost cutting promises underwhelming
- Major systems issues reported at ANZ
- The Global Week
- Oracle BI for iPad and iPhone
- IBM on systemic risk
- Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data mobile wallet
- HSBC Q1 pre-tax down 14.1%
- US tornadoes could cost insurers up to $5bn
- HSBC should sell US retail business & Ping An stake
- UK banks agree to settle PPI claims
- PPI charge creates Lloyds Banking pre-tax £3.5bn LOSS
- Beyond Compliance: Differentiating through Solvency II technology investments
- European banks said to have 1.3tr Euro of non-core assets
- UK consultation on the covered bond market
- UK Banking reform report significant
- Towers Watson reports on Solvency II survey across insurers operating in UK
- Horta-Osorio determined to conclude Lloyds branches sale this year
30th January 2013
EIOPA launches technical assessment of Solvency II long-term guarantee package
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a technical assessment of the long-term guarantee(LTG) package agreed by the Trilogue parties(the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission) in the context of the Omnibus II Directive negotiations. Its aim is to test various options contained in the Solvency II LTG measures in order to assess the effects that the implementation of such measures may have on: policyholders and beneficiaries, insurance and reinsurance undertakings, supervisory authorities and the financial system as a whole.
The assessment will focus on the evaluation of the following key features(individually and in combination): adapted relevant risk-free interest rate term structure(“Counter-cyclical Premium”); extrapolation; matching adjustment(“Classic” and “Extended”); transitional measures; and extension of the “Recovery Period”.
In providing quantitative data for the purposes of this assessment, insurance undertakings should follow the Technical Specifications published on Monday by EIOPA, available at
https://eiopa.europa.eu/consultations/qis/insurance/long-term-guarantees-assessment/index.html
Insurance undertakings will have until 31st March to carry out their estimation of the impact of the measures covered in the LTGA. In the course of April and May, the data submitted by insurance undertakings will, first, be validated by the national competent authorities (NCAs) and, then, be analysed by EIOPA at the EU level. The report presenting the technical results of the LTGA exercise together with EIOPA’s conclusions is planned to be published in the second half of June.
The assessment covers life as well as non-life insurance companies in the different national markets. The sample captures a range of undertakings of diverse size and nature.
Gabriel Bernardino, chairman of EIOPA, said “EIOPA’s independent supervisory assessment will provide a reliable basis for an informed political decision on the long term guarantee measures to be included in Solvency II. It is essential for policyholder protection and financial stability that Solvency II appropriately reflects the long term financial position and risk exposure of insurance and reinsurance undertakings carrying out insurance business of a long-term nature.”
“The decision to carry out the assessment shows that legislators recognise that changes are needed to ensure that Solvency II measures the real risks in insurers’ long-term business,” said Olav Jones, deputy director general of Insurance Europe.
Insurers are able to take a long-term approach to investment because of the long-term protection, savings and pension products they provide to policyholders. This long-term approach allows the insurance industry to provide better returns to policyholders and can have an important impact on the nature of the risks faced by an insurance company. It also helps the insurance companies to fund growth and stability in Europe. Without such long-term investors the recent financial crisis would have been far worse.
It is crucial that Solvency II does not jeopardise insurers’ ability to maintain this function. Solvency II should recognise the impact different business models have on risk and take this into account in measuring insurers’ balance sheets and capital requirements. Achieving this will avoid Solvency II unnecessarily forcing the industry away from providing long-term guarantees and becoming more short-term in its investments.
If these seemingly technical details of the new regime are not correct, the impact on the European insurance industry, its clients and the economy would be severe.“Solvency II must not create unnecessary barriers to insurers providing guarantees for customers and investing long-term, not least because the insurance industry is by far the largest institutional investor in Europe, with over E7.7trn in assets.”
The trade assocition added that the timetable for the technical assessment will be challenging, since it runs for just nine weeks and coincides with companies’ busy reporting period. Insurance Europe and its member associations will encourage as many companies as possible to take part.
Peter Ott, European Head of Solvency II at KPMG, welcomed the launch of the study-but expressed concern over the timing of the exercise. "This will put a lot of pressure on resources for those insurers that are participating. Given the delays in issuing the full specifications, significant time will be spent in the first few weeks assessing the detail required before the numerical assessment can even commence.”
There are 13 scenarios set out in the study covering each of the areas being assessed and these are considered at three dates (31 December 2011, 2009 and 2004). The first part of the technical specifications was issued in October and revised shortly before Christmas. However the key elements relating to the calculation of insurance technical provisions and the capital required for the affected contracts was only launched on Monday.
Janine Hawes, insurance director at KPMG, comments “The late release of the full requirements has limited the amount of preparation that firms have been able to do in advance of today’s launch, so detailed planning now is likely to be the key to successfully completing both the study and the year-end accounts.
Completing all scenarios to the level required will require significant dedicated resources. Where firms have only limited resources available to support the work, they will need to determine how best to meet the requirements of the study. In some instances, they may decide to employ external resources to assist them, either directly in the study or to backfill other roles. Others may decide to adopt simplifications or perhaps not to cover every scenario required.
Simplifications or reduced participation levels will impact on the final results. If Solvency II is to end up in a position that is viable for the [UK] insurance market, then results need to be representative of the market. It is not clear that this will be the case if a range of potentially inconsistent approaches is adopted within a market. Firms will need to clearly articulate the approach taken and explain in the narrative responses the practical issues they encountered during the exercise as well as the solvency impacts of these. EIOPA will need as much information as possible to enable it to suggest a way forward.”
KPMG warns that the time required for EIOPA to produce its report could itself result in further delays to the Solvency II timeline.
Hawes concluded “The European Parliament plenary vote on Omnibus 2 was pushed back to accommodate this study and is currently scheduled for 10th June. However, it seems unrealistic to assume that a mutually acceptable solution to the long-term guarantees issues, as well as all remaining outstanding differences on Omnibus 2, will be fully resolved in the trilogue process before that date. We are expecting that this vote will be further delayed until after the summer recess, with a second ‘quick fix’ directive required to amend the implementation date.”