On 22 November 2017, EIOPA hosted its 7th Annual Conference in Frankfurt. The opening address by EIOPA’s Chair, Gabriel Bernadino, focused on the current challenges the insurance and occupational pensions industry faces. It stressed the four main strategic priorities of EIOPA, addressing technical and regulatory gaps (in short):
(i) Maintaining sound regulation in an evolving financial ecosystem:
The sector must apply appropriate risk management strategies and adequately price risks, while treating consumers fairly, considering the trend for higher returns from riskier securities (see article here). On PEPP, EIOPA considers that the default investment option’s capital guarantee requirements should be applied only at the point of deccumulation.
(ii) Supervisory convergence through a common European supervisory culture:
EIOPA issued a Booklet containing the principles, conditions and tools that NCAs should apply to achieve supervisory convergence in the Single Market.
(iii) Reinforcing consumer protection in the digital world:
A benchmark for business supervisory practices should be created for the internal market. The speaker stressed that: ‘What worked in the past, does not necessarily work in the future’.
(iv) The need to preserve the stability of the industry:
The common market needs a harmonised approach to resolution and recovery procedures in cases of defaults by insurers.
For this reason, EIOPA calls for the minimum harmonisation of rules for insurers’ recovery and resolution, based on four pillars:
- Preparation and planning;
- Early intervention;
- Resolution; and
- Cross-border coordination and cooperation.
Read here the entire speech: ‘Insurance and Pensions Reloaded: A Game Changer’.