The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published its annual Report on the Functioning of Colleges of Supervisors and the Action Plan 2013.
According to the Report, by the end of 2012, 91 insurance groups with cross-border undertakings were identified in the European Economic Area (EEA). Colleges of supervisors were organized for 78 groups against 69 groups in 2011. For at least 20 large groups, college meetings were organised more than once a year. 17 national supervisory authorities acted as Group Supervisors.
In the course of 2012, EIOPA attended almost all college meetings for 75 groups. The Authority contributed to the work of colleges by developing a catalogue for regular information exchange and by providing specific presentations in colleges about EIOPA’s regular assessment of risks faced by the EEA insurance industry, including the explanation of EIOPA Risk Dashboard results.
The Report concludes that despite the uncertainty over the exact date for the Solvency II implementation, supervisors involved in colleges are making great efforts to prepare for the implementation of the new framework and in particular, during the pre-application process, to prepare for the use of internal models under Solvency II. Nevertheless, EIOPA observed differences between colleges in the scope and frequency of information exchange as well as in the approaches taken towards risk assessment and analysis.
In this context, the main targets of EIOPA’s Action Plan for 2013 are to develop in each college a common understanding on risk assessment and analysis, to assess the development of a coordination arrangement between supervisors for the interim period and to further align the work on the pre-application of Internal Models. Gabriel Bernardino, Chairman of EIOPA, said: “The strategic goal of EIOPA’s college work is to set up consistent, coherent and effective EEA-wide supervision of cross border insurance groups for the benefit of both group and solo supervision. National supervisors and EIOPA have made relevant progress in 2012 and the Action plan for 2013 aims to improve further the work of colleges in a challenging and demanding environment”.
