Rapporteur Balz on long-term guarantees, Solvency II's level 2 and global standards

Two months after the landmark political agreement on Omnibus II, MEP Burkhard Balz discusses the thorny issues that did not make it into the directive, spells out his expectations for the level 2 text and gives a warning about the implications of global insurance regulation in the making

It took European policy-makers quite a few years to reach a compromise on Omnibus II. They did so on November 13, after an eight-hour meeting, but neither they nor the insurance industry spent much time celebrating. The mood changed, as the political deal cleared the way for Solvency II to come into force in January 2016, but the road ahead remains full of potential hurdles and areas of uncertainty.

The first potential roadblock is the level 2 texts, the first unofficial draft of which is being