Delay to IDD start date The EU Commission published draft legislation today (in the form of a proposed Directive and a proposed Delegated Regulation) to delay the IDD start date to 1 October 2018.  It has agreed to requests for a delay made by the European Parliament and a number of Member States despite expressing the … Read more

In Crowden and Crowden v QBE Insurance (Europe) Ltd [2017] EWHC 2597 (Comm) the Commercial Court found in favour of the Defendant insurer on the disputed construction of an “insolvency” exclusion in a professional indemnity insurance policy.  The case is a useful reminder of the approach which the English Courts take to the construction of … Read more

This article was first published on Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. The PRA has published the first of three consultation papers (CP21/17) on reforming the Solvency II regime. The consultation reflects PRA experience of working with Solvency II since its introduction in January 2016, while covering some of the improvements proposed by the ABI and discussed earlier … Read more

The UK Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) is being extended to all financial services firms during 2018. PRA and FCA proposals applying to insurers build on the Senior Insurance Managers Regime (SIMR) although the transition to the SMCR is complicated by overlapping Solvency II requirements. We have prepared a guide for insurers to the … Read more

On 14 September 2017, the UK Parliament published a letter from Nicky Morgan, Chair of the Treasury Committee, to Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on insurers’ ability, post-Brexit, to service insurance contracts sold under passporting arrangements with a duration that extends beyond 29 March 2019. Read more

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill was published by the Government in July 2017 and is the key piece of UK domestic legislation that will implement Brexit. Repeal of the European Communities Act: The principal purpose of the Bill is to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, which gives effect and priority to EU law in … Read more

Recent comments made by Sam Woods, CEO of the PRA, about the PRA’s approach to supervision are worrying.  A speech prepared for this year’s Building Societies Annual Conference (but not actually delivered) is relevant to all authorised firms, not just building societies.  Parts of the speech, which relate to Solvency II rules on contract boundaries, are … Read more

In May 2017, the FCA published a guidance consultation paper (GC17/5) entitled “Proposed guidance on the FCA’s approach to the review of Part VII insurance business transfers”. The draft guidance in this document sets out the FCA’s approach to reviewing insurance business transfer schemes under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 … Read more