The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a consultation on the Interbank Offered Rates (IBOR) transitions. Across markets, IBOR is being replaced by risk-free rates. The consultation considers adjustments to EIOPA’s risk-free rate (RFR) methodology and production, in light of If the EU Benchmark Regulation (which came into force in 2018) which … Continue Reading
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published an opinion on the use of climate change risk scenarios in insurance undertakings’ Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA). The opinion has been written to help supervisory authorities understand EIOPA’s expectations in terms of climate risk scenarios included in the ORSA. Solvency II requires that … Continue Reading
On 12 April 2021 the Portuguese Presidency of the Council held a meeting to continue Member States’ discussions on the proposed regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The agenda for the meeting included discussion on proportionality in DORA as well as scope and timeline of specific regulatory technical standards (RTS) and … Continue Reading
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a consultation on value for money risk in the European unit-linked insurance market. EIOPA has previously expressed concern that while unit-linked products can offer important benefits for policyholders, costs for some products remain too high. The low interest rate environment, in addition to market shocks … Continue Reading
On 14 April 2021, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) held a committee meeting in which it discussed the main legislative proposals under the European Commission’s (Commission) Digital Finance Strategy. During the discussion, the committee members considered the draft reports on the following legislative proposals: Proposal for a Regulation on Markets … Continue Reading
On 8 April 2021, the European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority (EIOPA) published a single rulebook online containing requirements under the Insurance Distribution Directive ((EU) 2016/97). The single rulebook covers the Insurance Distribution Directive, the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2358) (on product governance and oversight), Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1935 (requirements relating to insurance-based investment products) and … Continue Reading
The Portuguese Presidency of the Council (“the Presidency”) will host on 24 February 2021 a meeting of the Working Party on Tax Questions, the main agenda item of which includes a discussion on the current state of play and on the way forward in respect of the Proposal for a Council Directive implementing enhanced cooperation … Continue Reading
On 15 February 2021, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (the Minister) sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer) containing an update on the Dutch Government’s experience of the EU/UK relationship following the end of the transition period. The letter addresses the policy areas in which the impact of the end of the … Continue Reading
The European Commission has published a summary report on its consultation on the review of the Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EC). The summary report sets out the feedback received during the consultation which was run between July and October 2020. The Commission does not include the Commission’s responses to feedback. The Commission will consider the feedback … Continue Reading
On 28 January 2021, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched a consultation on what is known as ‘open insurance’, namely the access to, and sharing of, insurance-related data. EIOPA has also published a discussion paper in which it considers whether and the extent to which insurance value chains can be opened up … Continue Reading
On Thursday, 21 January, the Portuguese presidency of the Council holds its first working group on the review of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The Council is still in its initial phase of examining the proposal. The Council Presidency Is taking an issue-by-issue approach, … Continue Reading
On 15 December 2020, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) and the French Authority for Financial Markets (Autorité des marchés financiers, the AMF) published a position paper containing a call for a European Regulation for the provision of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data, ratings, and related services. This … Continue Reading
On 16 December 2020 the Council of EU Ministers (the Council) agreed package of amendments to European financial services legislation – Capital Markets Recovery Package – including targeted amendments to MiFID II (so called MiFID “quick fix”). The key changes to the MiFID II regime include: Investor protection and research: agreed amendments include simplification of … Continue Reading
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a discussion paper on non-life underwriting and pricing in light of climate change. The discussion paper is a follow-up to the EIOPA opinion on sustainability within Solvency II (published in September 2019) in which EIOPA noted that it was common for non-life business not to … Continue Reading
On 3 and 4 December 2020, the European Parliament (Parliament), the Council and the European Commission (Commission) held the first round of the trilogue negotiations on the July 2020 Capital Markets Recovery Package proposal for targeted amendments to MiFID II (the so called MiFID “quick fix” proposal, overview of which is included in our blog … Continue Reading
On 3 November 2020, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) published the Trend Monitor 2021 (Trendzicht 2021). Every year, the AFM identifies the most important trends and related risks that will have an impact on the financial markets, in order to then further develop its supervision agenda. The Trend Monitor … Continue Reading
On 26 October 2020, the European Commission (the Commission) launched a public consultation[1] on sustainable corporate governance (the Consultation), soliciting responses from stakeholders on a possible EU sustainable corporate governance initiative with the aim of ensuring “that environmental and social interests are embedded in business strategies”. The Consultation will, according to the Commission, complement the … Continue Reading
On 27 October 2020, the European Securities and Markets Agency (ESMA) issued a public statement on the impact of Brexit on the continued application of MiFID II and MiFIR. The statement provided clarifications in respect of three aspects of MiFID II, namely: The ESMA opinions on third-country trading venues for the purpose of post trade … Continue Reading
On 19 October 2020 the European Commission published its Work Programme for 2021. The Work Programme, titled ‘A Union of vitality in a world of fragility’, is the second one published by the Von der Leyen Commission. The Work Programme provides an overview of the legislative priorities of the Commission for the upcoming year, as … Continue Reading
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published guidance on information and communication technology security governance. The Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EC) requires that insurers and reinsurers have in place effective systems of governance. This includes systems in respect of IT security. EIOPA has developed its guidance on information and communication technology (ICT) security … Continue Reading
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a consultation on a draft supervisory statement that seeks to promote supervisory convergence in relation to the assessment and use of risk-mitigation technique in insurance. EIOPA has concerns that divergent practices or supervisory arbitrage in this area could create an un-level playing field. The supervisory … Continue Reading
On 24 September 2020, the European Commission published its long-awaited Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan. The CMU Action Plan serves as a list of policies the Commission would like to introduce over the upcoming years, together with a timeline for the adoption of concrete legislative proposals. The main objective of the CMU is to … Continue Reading
The discussions on the European Commission proposal on the so-called “MiFID Quick Fix”, which also includes proposed amendments to the Prospectus Regulation and the Securitisation Regulation and corresponding changes to the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) are progressing. Following an initial Council Working Group meeting on 3 September, EU Member States’ representatives reconvened on 17 September … Continue Reading
On 24 September 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched a public consultation on the functioning of the MiFIR obligation to report transactions and reference data. The following day, on 25 September 2020, ESMA launched another public consultation from the MiFID II / MiFIR review series, this time focussing on the functioning of … Continue Reading
