European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
EIOPA’s response to the Coronavirus crisis - speech by Gabriel Bernardino, Chair of EIOPA - 27 April 2020
Gabriel Bernardino (Chair of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)) has delivered a speech on EIOPA’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, Mr Bernardino explains that:
- EIOPA has implemented a range of measures to help insurers focus on ensuring business continuity and continuing to serve their customers;
- although the sector has better aligned capital to risk since the implementation of the Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EU), given the overall uncertainty of the scale and duration of the crisis, it is important that insurers preserve capital and maintain continuity of service; and
- while the COVID-19 pandemic has caused several insurers to utilise digital technology to improve the accessibility of their services, policymakers and national competent authorities (NCAs) should ensure that increased digitalisation does not expose customers to an increased risk of fraud, cybercrime or financial exclusion.
He also states that despite the allocation of considerable resources to monitoring and mitigating the effects of COVID-19, EIOPA is able to continue with its other priorities for 2020, including its work on: (i) the Solvency II 2020 review; (ii) digitalisation, cyber risk and cyber insurance; (iii) sustainable finance; and (iv) the development of the Capital Markets Union (CMU).
Speech by Gabriel Bernardino (Chair of EIOPA) on EIOPA’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Prudential Regulation Authority
PRA Policy Statement PS10/20 - Solvency II: Group availability of subordinated liabilities and preference shares - April 2020
The PRA has published a Policy Statement (PS10/20) which outlines: (i) its final policy relating to the determination of the availability of subordinated liabilities and preference shares in group own funds under the Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EC); and (ii) its expectations of firms in presenting relevant analysis to the PRA. This follows the PRA’s Consultation Paper (CP16/19) on the matter, published in July 2019.
The PRA confirms that it will proceed with its original proposals largely as consulted on, save for the inclusion of additional material in Supervisory Statement SS9/15 ‘Solvency II: Group supervision’, which aims to clarify: (i) the PRA’s assessment of group availability for different types of groups; and (ii) the legal requirements that restrict the ability of subordinated liabilities and preference shares to absorb all types of group losses.
The policy changes outlined in PS10/20 will come into effect from 30 April 2020.
PRA Policy Statement PS10/20 – Solvency II: Group availability of subordinated liabilities and preference shares
Updated Supervisory Statement SS9/15 ‘Solvency II: Group supervision’
Webpage
Financial Conduct Authority
PPI complaints deadline - FCA publishes final report - April 2020
The FCA has published a final report on the impact of the 29 August 2019 deadline for payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints and the outcome of its two-year consumer communication campaign. In total, over 23.4 million PPI-related complaints were made to firms and, to date, in excess of £38 billion has been paid in redress to affected consumers.
According to the report, the communication campaign leading up to the PPI complaints deadline was successful in reaching many consumers who had not previously engaged with the complaints process. 8.9 million complaints were submitted in the final 14 months of the campaign, compared to 3.7 million in the first 10 months; 1.4 million complaints were received in the final month. The FCA found little evidence of consumers running out of time to complain about PPI. It also observes that firms made continued improvements in PPI complaints handling and their engagement with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and its decisions.
The FCA will continue to publish monthly figures for PPI redress paid until all complaints have been dealt with and expects firms to be in a position to provide most remaining complaints with final responses by summer 2020.
FCA final report on the impact of the PPI complaints deadline
Webpage
Press release
Lloyd’s Market Association
Consumer Wordings Guidance - LMA publishes updated version - 29 April 2020
The Lloyd’s Markets Association (LMA) has published an updated version of its guidance on consumer wordings. The guidance has been updated to:
- acknowledge the expansion of the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which took effect on 1 April 2019, to include small and medium-sized enterprises, which have an annual turnover of less than £6.5 million and one of either a balance sheet of less than £5 million or fewer than 50 employees, as ‘eligible complainants’; and
- include various suggestions and recommendations for how to improve the readability of policy wording in order to increase customers’ understanding of the coverage provided.
Press release: LMA updates Consumer Wordings Guidance
