The results of European insurance group stress tests will be released next week, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), said on Friday.
The tests have examined more than 200 insurance and re-insurance companies that account for more than half of all premiums taken in in the 27 members of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
They incorporate stricter criteria for capital requirements that are to take effect in January 2013 under so-called Solvency II regulation but which has not yet been finalised, a statement said.
The tests aim to gather information on how well the insurance sector would withstand “adverse developments,” and “due consideration was given to aligning the macro-economic assumptions with those applied to the stress test in the banking sector,” it added.
Last year, the 28 insurance companies tested were deemed solid enough to withstand the most pessimistic scenarios under consideration.
EIOPA said it would publish “preliminary aggregated results” rather than use the company-by-company format for banks that are expected sometime this month.
Frankfurt, July 1, 2011 (AFP)
