A comparatively quiet year for natural catastrophes after the record losses of 2017 and 2018, 2019 brought its fair share of manmade headline-grabbing events – from industry newcomers, the Argo vs Voce saga, battling brokers and the rise of the insurtech ‘unicorn’ to political agendas playing out on both sides of the Atlantic…
Brexit
Britain and the EU have signed a long-delayed post-Brexit cooperation pact for financial services, though the agreement stops short of granting the City of London bloc-wide market access.
Zurich Insurance Group has unveiled plans to shift its European Economic Area holding company, Zurich Insurance plc (ZIP), to Germany from Ireland following Britain’s departure from the EU.
Lloyd’s has completed the transfer of business from its Italian branch to Lloyd’s Insurance Company (LIC), the Corporation’s Brussels-based European subsidiary.
The UK’s proposed overhaul to EU capital rules could free £90bn ($108bn) of capital for investment but insurers should not see the reforms as a “free lunch”, the Bank of England’s deputy governor Sam Woods warned on Friday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Downing Street officials are reportedly growing increasingly impatient with the UK’s financial regulators over the pace of post-Brexit capital reforms for the insurance sector.
The UK will deliver its much-anticipated reforms to the EU’s capital rules “at pace”, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak promised an elite gathering of insurance executives yesterday.
UK insurers’ solvency will remain “robust” under the UK government’s proposed post-Brexit overhaul to the EU’s Solvency II capital rules, according to Moody’s.
The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has said capital adequacy rules under the Solvency II regime could be better tailored to make the UK (re)insurance sector more competitive.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are reportedly preparing to make a joint statement in June on the UK government’s planned post-Brexit overhaul to the EU’s Solvency II insurance regulations.
