January 2018

09Jan

EU Lawmakers Mull State Variances For Blocwide Pensions

The European Parliament has published proposals for a new regulation on a blocwide personal pensions regime aimed at promoting competition and allowing customers to move their retirement investments across the EU. The European Council and the European Parliament's committee on economic and monetary affairs delivered their recommendations for a proposed pan-European pension product in a working paper on Monday. The voluntary retirement product, known as PEPP, is intended to broaden consumer choice and offer a pension solution for EU citizens...

January 9, 2018
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December 2017

21Dec

EU watchdog says insurance sector well capitalised despite risks

The European Union’s insurance sector is well capitalised despite challenges such as low interest rates and the disasters that have hit reinsurers, the bloc’s insurance and pension watchdog said on Wednesday. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), in a financial stability report, said that in addition to low rates, low market volatility and high levels of economic and political uncertainty were major challenges to the industry. “Despite these challenges, the insurance sector remains well capitalised”, EIOPA said, noting that...

December 21, 2017
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14Dec

EU pensions have insufficient assets to cover liabilities – Watchdog

European Union pension providers on the whole do not have enough assets to cover their liabilities, the European Union’s insurance and pension watchdog said on Wednesday. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published aggregated results of this year’s stress test of 195 institutions that provide pensions. The results showed shortfalls of between 349 billion euros ($411 billion) and 702 billion euros, levels that could harm the real economy, EIOPA said. Source: Reuters

December 14, 2017
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07Dec

EU. EIOPA speaks on insurance and pensions

The Chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), Gabriel Bernardino, delivered a speech at EIOPA’s 7th annual conference on Insurance and Pensions Reloaded: A Game Changer. The speech covered the following four themes that cross over EIOPA’s main strategic priorities: Maintaining sound regulation in an evolving landscape – this included a discussion on the development of the proposed regulation on the Pan-European Personal Pension Product. Supervisory convergence and the building up of a common European – Mr Bernardino referred to the publication of...

December 7, 2017
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07Dec

UK will not pay lump sum Brexit bill, according to draft agreement

The U.K. will pay no upfront Brexit divorce bill to the European Union but will instead continue to act “as if [it] remained a member state” by meeting its ongoing liabilities as and when they arise for decades to come, according to a draft text of a joint agreement with the EU. The clause forms part of a proposed draft agreement between London and Brussels that was circulated among U.K. officials Monday, the contents of which have been shared with...

December 7, 2017
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05Dec

EU court adviser says Britain was wrong to refuse transgender woman’s pension

Britain’s rejection of a transgender woman’s claim for a women’s state pension because she was still married to her spouse from before her transition is discriminatory, an EU court adviser said on Tuesday. Advocate General Michal Bobek of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) stated in a non-binding opinion that marriage status does not play a role in accessing state retirement pensions for people who are not transgender. “This amounts to direct discrimination on the basis of sex,...

December 5, 2017
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November 2017

29Nov

Britain close to deal on Brexit bill with EU: sources

Britain has offered to pay much of what the European Union was demanding to settle a Brexit “divorce bill”, bringing the two sides close to agreement on a key obstacle to opening talks on a future free trade pact, EU sources said on Tuesday. The offer, which British newspapers valued at around 50 billion euros, reflected the bulk of outstanding EU demands that include London paying a share of post-Brexit EU spending on commitments made before Britain leaves in March...

November 29, 2017
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27Nov

Pension scheme trustees urged to prepare for imminent EU regulation

Although the regulation is not expected to impact trustees directly, it is thought that new rules for brokers and asset managers may affect UK pension schemes’ current contractual relationships. The EU legislation is designed to offer greater protection for investors while injecting more transparency into all asset classes, taking effect on 3 January 2018. Sacker & Partners LLP have identified several steps trustees should be taking now, which include: 1) Obtain an LEI number – this can be done at the London Stock...

November 27, 2017
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23Nov

Pan-European pension schemes – a way to close the pension gap

Europe is getting old. Ageing population is a luxury good hardly any country can afford. It has been one of the main policy challenges in the Union. Increasing old-age dependency ratio will widen the pension gap and make current pension systems unsustainable. Over the past decades, politicians have been in a rambling quest to close the gap. Their confidence in finding a solution must have been restored after the Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis announced the so-called pan-European Personal Pension...

November 23, 2017
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October 2017

20Oct

ESMA Receives Mandate on Fund Performance from European Commission

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has received a mandate from the European Commission (EC) requesting the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) – the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and ESMA – to issue recurrent reports on the cost and past performance of the main categories of retail investment, insurance and pension products. The request supports the action, included in the EC’s Mid Term Review of the Capital Markets Union of 8 June 2017, on...

October 20, 2017
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