Ireland: Solvency II Update - Latest Timelines

Directive 2012/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 September 2012 ("Directive 2012/23/EU") amends the Solvency II Directive in respect of the date for its transposition, the date of its application and the date of repeal of certain existing insurance and reinsurance Directives.

The Solvency II Directive set 31 October 2012 as the date of transposition, 1 November 2012 as the date of application and 1 November 2012 as the date of repeal of various existing insurance and reinsurance Directives. There is considered to be a risk, however, given the complexity of the Omnibus II proposal, that it will not have entered into force before the date for transposition and the date of application of the Solvency II Directive. It is felt that leaving those dates unchanged would result in the Solvency II Directive being implemented before the entry into force of the transitional rules and relevant adaptations provided for by the Omnibus II proposal.

In accordance with Directive 2012/23/EU and in order to avoid overly burdensome legislative obligations for Member States under the Solvency II Directive and by the Omnibus II proposal, it is considered appropriate to postpone the date for transposition of the Solvency II Directive. In order to allow supervisors and insurance and reinsurance undertakings to prepare for the application of the new supervisory architecture envisaged by the Omnibus II proposal, it is also considered appropriate to provide for a later date of application of Solvency II Directive.

Under Directive 2012/23/EU, therefore, the proposed date for transposition of the Solvency II Directive is now 30 June 2013, the revised date of its application is 1 January 2014 and the date of repeal of existing insurance and reinsurance Directives is 1 January 2014.

Please click here to read the full text of Directive 2012/23/EU.

The wider plenary vote on Omnibus II in the European Parliament has, however, been rescheduled and will now take place on 20 November 2012.

The change in the plenary vote date was expected and although it has been indicated that the change will not impact on the overall timetable for Solvency II, some commentators have suggested that this is only one of a number of factors that could lead to a delay in implementing Solvency II.  Alberto Corinti, Promontory Financial Group director who assisted in drafting the Solvency II Directive, has recently stated that the deadline could be pushed back by as much as one year following the failure by the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to agree on the final version of the new capital requirements at their recent meeting in July.  Corinti blames the delay on the current state of the European economy, "It is likely that 1 January 2014 won't be met because it was really ambitious before, but now with this delay in achieving implementation it will be difficult".

Consultation on Solvency II Reporting and Disclosure Requirements

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has recently published a Final Report on the outcome of the two public consultations (No. 11/009 and No.11/011) on the proposal for reporting and disclosure requirements. EIOPA recommends that industry should use the current reporting package as a basis to start the implementation phase.

Please click here to read the full text of the Final Report.

As part of the reporting requirements under Solvency II, EIOPA is proposing a set of Quantitative Reporting Templates (QRTs).  EIOPA is currently revising the draft QRTs in light of comments received following a public consultation during November 2011 to January 2012.  The draft QRTs allow individual countries to define national templates, covering local market specifics and legal requirements.  The Central Bank of Ireland has indicated its intention to communicate with industry in respect of the national templates and reporting requirements in early 2013.

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