16 April 2014
Nearly 80 percent of European insurers expect to meet Solvency II requirements by the implementation deadline of 1 January 2016, according to a survey conducted by EY.
Insurers said they were in a “high state of readiness” to implement Pillar 1, which specifies the level of capital insurers are required to hold, and to fulfil most of Pillar 2, which sets out the fundamentals of corporate governance.
Based on a poll of 170 insurers across 20 countries in the autumn of 2013, the survey showed companies want better support from regulators over Solvency II.
Seventy-nine percent of respondents were not satisfied with the support offered to help them interpret regulatory requirements, while 75 percent criticised the quantity and quality of feedback on company-specific implementation.
In addition, 61 percent of those surveyed were not wholly satisfied with the size of their supervisory teams.
Insurers also said they continued to be challenged by Pillar 3, which lays out standards on disclosure and reporting.
Almost 76 percent of respondents said they have yet to meet most or all Solvency II reporting requirements, showing a slight improvement on 2012’s 80 percent.
Martin Bradley, global insurance risk and regulation leader at EY, commented: “Given the current status, the reality for many is that the 2015 transitional reporting will need to be done largely on a manual basis.”
Overall, the survey found that Dutch, UK and Nordic insurers were the best prepared, while French, German and Greek insurers felt less confident.
Bradley said: “Postponing the Solvency II regulatory deadline to 2016 has bolstered insurer confidence that they can meet the requirements in the time frame.”
“However, as companies become more realistic about their implementation readiness, it is clear that some are less prepared than they had expected – many simply delayed their plans by at least one year, which might cause them issues now,” he continued.
