Swedish insurers to suffer capital hit as regulator approves rule changes

Calls to delay December implementation fall on deaf ears

Swedish insurers may struggle with new capital rules being introduced to ease the transition to Solvency II, experts are warning.

On November 12, the Swedish financial regulator, Finansinspektionen (FI), passed new rules changing the way the discount rate for valuing insurance liabilities is calculated. It also made changes to the so-called ‘traffic light methodology', a tool for supervising insurers' capital requirements when under stress.

The new rules will require insurers to add a risk