April 2019

European Commission approves legal framework for Pan European Pension Products

1. What is the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) and what is this new legislation about? The pan-European personal pension product (PEPP) is a voluntary personal pension scheme that will offer consumers a new pan-European option to save for retirement. This new type of product is designed to give savers more choice and provide them with more competitive products, while enjoying strong consumer protection. It could be offered by a broad range of financial providers such as insurance companies,...

EU. Launch of EIOPA’s 2019 Occupational Pensions Stress Test Exercise

Crucial biennial exercise to assess the resilience and potential vulnerabilities of the European Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution pension sector Tailored to the specificities of the diverse European pension sector and its potential impact on financial stability Adverse market scenario mirrors the current risk outlook on financial markets For the first time, a European stress test includes an assessment of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) exposures Today, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched...

March 2019

EIOPA determines principles for transparent, timely and clear information provision on pensions

​In the context of the implementation of the IORP II Directive, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today a second "Report on Other Information to be provided to Prospective and Current Members: Guidance and Principles based on Current Practices". This report complements EIOPA's first report "Implementation of IORP II: Report on the Pension Benefit Statement: guidance and principles based on current practices", published on 13 November 2018. It analyses national practices existing prior to the implementation...

EU and UK reach agreement over no-deal Brexit insurance rules

In case the UK withdraws from the EU without ratification of the withdrawal agreement, on March 30, 2019, the UK becomes a third country and UK insurance undertakings and distributors lose their right to conduct business across the EU27 Member States. This story is reprinted with permission from the Insurance Coverage Law Center, the industry’s only comprehensive digital resource designed for insurance coverage law professionals. Read more @Property Casualty360

February 2019

Pensions: Council confirms agreement on pan-European pension product

EU institutions agreed new rules that will make it easier for people to put money aside for their retirement. EU ambassadors today endorsed the agreement reached between the presidency and the European Parliament on 13 December on the proposed 'pan-European pension product' (PEPP), a new class of personal pension scheme. The draft regulation is aimed at providing greater choice for people who wish to save for their retirement, and at the same time boosting the market for personal pensions....

January 2019

Brexit Preparedness: European Commission adopts final set of “no-deal” contingency measures for social security coordination rules

Given the increasing risk that the United Kingdom may leave the EU on 30 March this year without a deal (a “no-deal” scenario), the European Commission has today adopted a final set of contingency proposals in the area of the Erasmus+ programme, social security coordination and the EU budget. This follows the calls by the European Council (Article 50) in November and December 2018 to intensify preparedness work at all levels, and the adoption on 19 December 2018 of...

EIOPA analyses costs and past performance of insurance and pension products

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its first Report on Costs and Past Performance of insurance and pension products following a request of the European Commission to the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to periodically report on costs and past performance of retail investment, insurance and pension products. This first report provides aggregate data on the costs of insurance-based investment products (IBIPs) across the European Union as well as for certain similar personal pension products (PPPs)...

December 2018

Financing decent pensions: a challenge for European states

Some 70,000 people took to the streets of Brussels on 28 May 2018. And tens of thousands demonstrated once again in several Belgian cities on 2 October. The trade union mobilisation against the reform of the pension system in Belgium attracted nationwide attention. But this protest movement did not emerge from nowhere. It is, rather, the culmination of many years of discontent. The federal government undertook to reform the entire pension system, to cope with Belgium’s ever-ageing population, from the...

Brits living in the EU risk having their pensions frozen

Britons living in the EU, who qualify for a state pensions uprate, could lose the guarantee after disorderly Brexit. The British government has today outlined the ways how it intends to protect rights of its citizens living in the EU in the case of “no-deal Brexit.” As one of the protections, the Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay pledged to keep uprating state pensions of UK nationals living in the EU – but only if the EU reciprocates. If the EU as a bloc...

May 2018

Investors may be deterred by shortcomings fighting corruption – EU

Governance shortcomings in the anticorruption framework may adversely affect the business climate and weigh negatively on investment, the European Commission said on Wednesday. “The effectiveness of Malta’s efforts to fight corruption needs to be further improved, especially with regards to the investigation and prosecution of corruption,” it warned in the country specific recommendations for the 2018 European Semester. Apart from updating from various previous reports, two specific recommendations were made: - Strengthen the overall governance framework by enhancing the national supervision of...