Stand:updated on 01.01.2016 | Topic Reporting obligations Solvency II – Reporting and disclosure obligations of primary insurers, reinsurers and insurance groups (Pillar III)
Content
Solvency II introduces harmonised reporting requirements which will complement and, in part, replace national rules. The member states are permitted to maintain additional reporting requirements that are tailored to national specificities or are based on information required under commercial law accounting.
Reporting requirements under Solvency II are no longer determined only on the basis of regulations and circulars adopted or issued in accordance with the provisions of the German Insurance Supervision Act (Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz – VAG). In fact, there are now additional reporting obligations laid down at the European level. These were defined and explained in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 35/2015 and in the Implementing Technical Standards (ITS). Further details are set out in guidelines published by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).
Supervisory reporting, disclosure obligations of undertakings and groups, and reporting requirements for financial stability purposes
Disclosure obligations of undertakings and groups towards the public include the preparation of the Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR), which serves to create transparency regarding the economic situation of undertakings. The quantitative reporting templates specified in the corresponding Implementing Technical Standard (ITS) are part of the SFCR and must be published annually together with the report itself.
The regular reports submitted by undertakings to the Supervisory Authority must include the following documents:
- the Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR);
- the Regular Supervisory Report (RSR), which predominantly contains explanatory information particularly in relation to the business and its results, business organisation, risk profile as well as capital management and the valuation of assets and liabilities for solvency purposes;
- the ORSA Supervisory Report on the outcome of own risk and solvency assessments, which undertakings must submit after each routine assessment; and
- annual and quarterly quantitative reporting templates.
Information required for financial stability purposes is to be provided exclusively for macro-economic analyses and only by certain undertakings and groups.
Reporting to BaFin will be made electronically. The type and manner of data transmission, the data formats to be used and the data quality to be complied with, as well as the legal entity identifier to be stated will be set out in the forthcoming Regulation on Reporting. They are also described in detail under the heading "Technical aspects of Solvency II reporting”.
In addition to information on individual undertakings, group reports and quantitative group information must now also be submitted to the Supervisory Authority for the first time if the Supervisory Authority is the competent group supervisor for an insurance group.
EIOPA consultations
The Implementing Technical Standards on reporting are available in all official EU languages on the European Commission's website:
- the "Implementing Technical Standards with regard to the templates for the submission of information to the supervisory authorities" comprise the reporting templates (Annex I), the log documents (Annex II and III), definitions of asset categories for investments and derivatives (Annex IV) and the Complementary Identification Code (CIC) (Annex V and VI) for regular annual and quarterly reporting (EIOPA-BoS-15-115);
- the "Implementing Technical Standards with regard to the procedures, formats and templates for the disclosure of the solvency and financial condition report" contain provisions on the procedures, formats and templates for the disclosure obligations of undertakings within the Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR) (EIOPA-BoS-15-118).
Two sets of EIOPA guidelines are relevant to supervisory reporting under Solvency II:
- the Guidelines on reporting and public disclosure (EIOPA-BoS-15-109), and
- the Guidelines on the methods for determining the market shares for reporting (EIOPA-BoS-15-106).
Exclusively for macro-economic purposes, a third set of guidelines is relevant for certain undertakings and groups only:
- the Guidelines on reporting for financial stability purposes (EIOPA-BoS-15-107).
EIOPA published the Guidelines in all official languages of the EU in mid-September 2015. Publication was followed by the two-month comply or explain procedure.
The final reports of the above consultations were published by EIOPA at the beginning of July 2015.
Guidance Notice on the Reporting of Primary Insurers and Reinsurers, Insurance Groups and Pension Funds
This Guidance Notice contains, in addition to preliminary remarks, two sections with detailed guidance from BaFin on reporting under Solvency II.