John J. Masters, technology consulting director at Metapraxis the business analysis company, comments on Prudential’s threat to leave London:
“The principles behind Solvency II are the right ones; to drive substantial improvements in data management, corporate governance and reporting. It was a shame the date was pushed back to 2014 and it is even more worrying that this deadline is now also in question.
Prudential are right to look for clarity on the future impact that it will have on their businesses outside of the EU, particularly in the US. But given the Commission indicated that the US would be a primary candidate for transitional arrangements, whereby they would be treated as equivalent for 5 years after Solvency II comes into force, this would not be an issue until 2019 at the earliest.
So all the signs point to this being an attempt to lobby the commission into reducing the capital requirements of Solvency II within the EU. The implication that Prudential makes is that relocating outside of the EU so they can hold less capital against their risks will not impact their ability to raise further capital.
If they are actually right, taking this decision would essentially be a deliberate act of free-riding on their part. They would benefit from the increased stability that Solvency II in Europe will provide the worldwide insurance industry, without having to manage their own balance sheet to stricter capital requirements.”
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