General Insurance Article - Rob Stavrou on the close of Solvency II consultation period

 “The fact that the Solvency II consultation phase is coming to a close confirms the UK’s leading position in the Solvency II timeframe. Where the London Market has pushed on and led the way with ensuring it meets the deadline, other countries have preferred to wait and see how the legislation progresses. As a result, UK insurers are ahead of their European competitors.

 “The advantage of this investment in compliance is that it will be a soft start for London’s market participants. Capacity providers can complete the process and demonstrate that they have achieved compliance without any negative impact being enforced (e.g. additional capital) until other markets are compliant. With Bermuda moving to implement similar measures, meeting the regulatory requirements is now a global imperative.

 “Many insurance companies are finding that compliance is not as costly and complicated a procedure as initially thought. If you’ve got the right systems and processes in place you can make Solvency II implementation a relatively painless process.”