On 26 June 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published a newsletter with updates relevant for the insurance sector.

• Updated view on the independence of the supervisory board: DNB has changed its view on the independence functioning of supervisory boards of insurers. DNB’s requirement that at least half (50%) of the supervisory board members must be formally independent will remain as is, but some changes have been made to the criteria for formal independence (independence in state) and the conditions under which a lower degree of formal independence is allowed.

• Updated good practices on outsourcing: DNB has taken into account feedback from the financial sector and has introduced updated good practices on outsourcing (including some new good practices). DNB expects insurers to review their outsourcing processes taking into account these good practices.
• Evaluation of Solvency II: DNB supports EIOPA in the preparation of its technical advice on the review of the Solvency II by means of requesting data from Dutch insurers. In March of this year, information requests were sent to several insurers among others in relation to long-term guarantees (LTG) measures and the ultimate forward rate (UFR). The responses thereto have been forwarded to EIOPA and it is expected that EIOPA publishes its draft Technical Advice for public consultation in the autumn of this year. At the end of 2019 or in the beginning of 2020, DNB expects to ask a selection of Dutch insurers to participate in the impact assessment on the impact of EIOPAs proposes changes.
• Q&As: DNB published the (i) final Q&A on recognition of risk mitigation techniques using reinsurance contracts in the Solvency II Standard Formula, and the (ii) updated Q&A on the application of the prohibition on secondary business activities to health insurers.

View DNB’s news update (Dutch only), 26 June 2019.