Solvency II
WHAT IS THIS? Europe’s Solvency II directive came into effect in 2016, putting risk at the heart of a harmonised prudential framework for insurance firms. Similar in outline to the banking industry’s Basel standards, Pillar 1 sets out quantitative requirements; Pillar 2 tackles risk management and governance; Pillar 3 addresses transparency, reporting and public disclosure.
Matching adjustment repack structures revealed
Public company filings show details of Aviva’s single senior note structure, L&G’s £6 billion forex repack
Insurance capital standard can be forged on time – Cadoni
Chair of IAIS working group asserts ICS will not be mere capital backstop
Eurozone must lead search for doom-loop fix
Basel Committee working on sovereign risk, but eurozone has most at stake
Transitional resets pose reporting challenge for insurers
Uncertainty over approval process leaves firms “in limbo”
PRA invites post-Brexit transitional recalculations
UK regulator invites firms to recalculate smoothing effect to ease the pain of higher risk margin
Brexit leaves insurers playing regulation waiting game
Local regime likely to be tougher than Solvency II, although risk margin might change
The fault lines in Europe's Solvency II compromise
Row over calculation of discount rates exposes political differences
Insurers eye secondary annuities as perfect matching asset
Some UK firms see nascent market as source of ideal hedging tool
UFR change would ‘threaten’ Solvency II political compromise
German policy-makers talk tough in opposition to lowering of discount rate
Nordea cutting alternatives after shift to unit-linked products
Heightened lapse risk ends 20-year "romance" with hedge funds, says Nordea Life & Pensions CIO
Regulators see 'long journey' to getting Orsas right
Insurers still treating own-risk assessment too much like a compliance exercise, Nordic supervisors say
Balz slams IAIS for rule-making 'behind closed doors'
Failure to engage with European Parliament will delay and undermine international insurance regulation, says MEP
Lower UFR would be dangerously pro-cyclical – Bafin
Solvency II rate cut would crowd insurers into long-dated assets, says insurance chief
PRA frets about Solvency II internal model ‘drift’
Bank-style leverage ratio for insurers one option being discussed
Capital and funding
Quants propose KVA and FVA accounting framework based on Solvency II regulation
LV= weighing options for equity-release mortgages
Complex assets left out of matching adjustment application, but could be added when internal model is approved
Putting a price on long-term life insurance business (part II)
Extending risk-adjusted performance metrics to take into account real-world investment returns
G-Sii process ‘out of touch’, says Axa’s Thimann
Interview: designation approach open to political influence, argues head of group strategy
Life firms irked by patchy matching adjustment approvals
UK regulator could have been more clear about success of bolder submissions, say advisers
UK regulator outlines wish list for Solvency II review
Risk margin “highly pro-cyclical” and ultimate forward rate “completely unrealistic”, says financial policy director
Bundesbank’s Buch slams lower capital for insurers in infrastructure
Deputy president says the use of prudential regulations to achieve economic policy objectives is “highly problematic”
Life firms split on what risk margin means for bulk annuities
L&G predicts record volumes, but Aegon and UK's Prudential say risk-margin costs too high
Experts warn on simplistic approach to vendor risk
Magnitude of exposures "very difficult" to size
Irish supervisor sees insurance pricing as prudential issue
Regulator takes hands-on approach following insurance failures