EIOPA examines further aspects of insurers’ failures and near misses

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its second “Failures and near misses in insurance” report, which now comprises altogether 219 relevant cases from the European (EAA) insurance sector.

The report takes stock of the most common courses of action taken by insurers and national competent authorities (NCAs) during the recovery and resolution phases of failures and near misses. The database underpinning the report pools valuable information about the impact of the various measures implemented, which serve to improve supervisory knowledge in the fields of failure prevention and the reduction of eventual losses.

The analysis also looks at cross-border issues and finds that while they account for only a small number of the failures reported so far, losses suffered by policyholders seem to occur more often than in domestic insurance failures.

The findings of the report lend further support to EIOPA’s views on the need for a common recovery and resolution framework at the EU level and for a minimum degree of harmonisation across the network of national IGSs to minimise the impact of failures and better protect policyholders.