Directive 98/78/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 1998 on the supplementary supervision of insurance undertakings in an insurance group
Modified by
Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 16 December 2002on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 79/267/EEC, 92/49/EEC, 92/96/EEC, 93/6/EEC and 93/22/EEC, and Directives 98/78/EC and 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, 302L0087, February 11, 2003
Directive 2005/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 9 March 2005amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 85/611/EEC, 91/675/EEC, 92/49/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directives 94/19/EC, 98/78/EC, 2000/12/EC, 2001/34/EC, 2002/83/EC and 2002/87/EC in order to establish a new organisational structure for financial services committees(Text with EEA relevance), 305L0001, March 24, 2005
Directive 98/78/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 27 October 1998on the supplementary supervision of insurance undertakings in an insurance groupTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 57(2) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the CommissionOJ C 341, 19.12.1995, p. 16, and OJ C 108, 7.4.1998, p. 48.,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ C 174, 17.6.1996, p. 16.,Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the TreatyOpinion of the European Parliament of 23 October 1997 (OJ C 339, 10.11.1997, p. 136), Council common position of 30 March 1998 (OJ C 204, 30.6.1998, p. 1), Decision of the European Parliament of 16 September 1998 (OJ C 313, 12.10.1998) and Council Decision of 13 October 1998.,(1)Whereas the first Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assuranceOJ L 228, 16.8.1973, p. 3. Directive as last amended by Directive 95/26/EC (OJ L 168, 18.7.1995, p. 7). and the first Council Directive 79/267/EEC of 5 March 1979 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of direct life assuranceOJ L 63, 13.3.1979, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 95/26/EC. require insurance undertakings to have solvency margins;(2)Whereas, under Council Directive 92/49/EEC of 18 June 1992 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance and amending Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EECOJ L 228, 11.8.1992, p. 1. Directive as amended by Directive 95/26/EC. and Council Directive 92/96/EEC of 10 November 1992 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct life assurance and amending Directives 79/267/EEC and 90/619/EECOJ L 360, 9.12.1992, p. 1. Directive as amended by Directive 95/26/EC. the taking up and the pursuit of the business of insurance are subject to the granting of a single official authorisation issued by the authorities of the Member State in which an insurance undertaking has its registered office (home Member State); whereas such authorisation allows an undertaking to carry on business throughout the Community, under either the right of establishment or the freedom to provide services; whereas the competent authorities of home Member States are responsible for monitoring the financial health of insurance undertakings, including their solvency;(3)Whereas measures concerning the supplementary supervision of insurance undertakings in an insurance group should enable the authorities supervising an insurance undertaking to form a more soundly based judgment of its financial situation; whereas such supplementary supervision should take into account certain undertakings which are not at present subject to supervision under Community Directives; whereas this Directive does not in any way imply that Member States are required to undertake supervision of those undertakings considered individually;(4)Whereas insurance undertakings in a common insurance market engage in direct competition with each other and the rules concerning capital requirements must therefore be equivalent; whereas, to that end, the criteria applied to determine supplementary supervision must not be left solely to the discretion of Member States; whereas the adoption of common basic rules will be in the best interests of the Community in that it will prevent distortions of competition; whereas it is necessary to eliminate certain divergences between the laws of the Member States as regards the prudential rules to which insurance undertakings that are part of an insurance group are subject;(5)Whereas the approach adopted consists in bringing about such harmonisation as is essential, necessary and sufficient to achieve the mutual recognition of prudential control systems in this field; whereas the aim of this Directive is in particular to protect the interests of insured persons;(6)Whereas certain provisions of this Directive define minimum standards; whereas a home Member State may lay down stricter rules for insurance undertakings authorised by its own competent authorities;(7)Whereas this Directive provides for the supplementary supervision of any insurance company which is a participating undertaking in at least one insurance undertaking, reinsurance undertaking or non-member-country insurance undertaking and, under different rules, for the supplementary supervision of any insurance company whose parent undertaking is an insurance holding company, a reinsurance undertaking, a non-member-country insurance undertaking or a mixed-activity insurance holding company; whereas the supervision of individual insurance undertakings by the competent authorities remains the essential principle of insurance supervision;(8)Whereas it is necessary to calculate an adjusted solvency situation for insurance undertakings forming part of an insurance group; whereas different methods are applied by the competent authorities in the Community to take into account the effects on the financial situation of an insurance undertaking attributable to the fact that it belongs to an insurance group; whereas this Directive lays down three methods to effect that calculation; whereas the principle is accepted that these methods are prudentially equivalent;(9)Whereas the solvency of a related subsidiary insurance undertaking of an insurance holding company, reinsurance undertaking or non-member-country insurance undertaking may be affected by the financial resources of the group of which it is a part and by the distribution of financial resources within that group; whereas the competent authorities should be provided with the means of exercising supplementary supervision and of taking appropriate measures at the level of the insurance undertaking where its solvency is or may be jeopardised;(10)Whereas the competent authorities should have access to all the information relevant to the exercise of supplementary supervision; whereas cooperation between the authorities responsible for the supervision of insurance undertakings as well as between those authorities and the authorities responsible for the supervision of other financial sectors should be established;(11)Whereas intra-group transactions can affect the financial position of an insurance undertaking; whereas the competent authorities should be in a position to exercise general supervision over certain types of such intra-group operations and take appropriate measures at the level of the insurance undertaking where its solvency is or may be jeopardised,HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: