Ferma pledges to focus on EU regs in 2015 with captives, SII and ELD top targets

Ferma said the promises will help the federation to meet its strategic objectives. Namely, to be a significant stakeholder at European Union (EU) level, coordinate and support the development of risk management and ensure sustainability. The Federation said it will continue to monitor developments affecting risk managers at EU level, with particular focus on those issues deemed of key importance by members in its 2014 Ferma European Risk and Insurance Survey. Ferma said one such focus will be Solvency II and in particular its treatment of captives. Solvency II is finally set to come into force on 1 January 2016. The directive's Delegated Act was finally published on 17 January 2015 in the EU Official Journal. However definition of, and simplifications for, captives remain "restrictive", said Ferma. This could see more onerous Solvency II rules fall on captives.hideUnder current Solvency II rules, captives eligible for simplification are limited to those that do not have compulsory third-party liability business and only provide cover to undertakings belonging to the group. This has been an important subject of discussion within the risk management community for several years and a source of concern, said Ferma. It explained that dialogue between the captive industry and national regulators would continue well beyond Solvency II's 2016 start date. Ferma said the combination of the EU presidency of Luxembourg from June to December 2015 and the Ferma Forum in October 2015 will "be the occasion to refresh this dialogue". The Federation has also promised to keep close tabs on the ELD as it comes up for revision in 2015. "Our goal is to ensure that the revision of the ELD planned for 2015 takes into account Ferma's position against mandatory financial security, the extension of strict liability to all operators and the addition of new damages under the ELD regime," said Ferma Ferma says it will follow the European Commission's (EC) work on the effectiveness, scope and exceptions to the ELD and continue to be part of Insurance Europe's ELD taskforce. In addition, it envisages delivering EU-funded ELD training to member associations. A further EU topic in Ferma's line of sight is the Directive on Non-Financial Reporting. Following its recent adoption, the EC will, within the next two years, develop specific guidelines on non-financial reporting elements, such as environmental risks, social and employee matters, anti-corruption and bribery policies. Ferma said its joint working group with the internal auditors through the European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing will work to deliver a consistent message to the EC that ensures reporting is "efficient and meaningful". The Federation will also continue to follow developments associated with confidentiality, data protection and cyber risk management, as well as associated insurance and risk financing solutions, throughout 2015. "We will monitor the future impact of mandatory notification and reporting for cyber incidents proposed in the Directive on Network and Information Security. We will keep the EC up to date with information on the cyber insurance market from the corporate buyer's perspective and the feasibility of standards regarding cyber security," it said. The final big EU topic for Ferma this year is the IBER. The EC launched a consultation in August 2014 to assess the IBER and determine whether the claimed benefits of insurance pooling still justify the special treatment they receive from EU competition authorities. Ferma hopes the IBER will be renewed and promises to work towards that goal. Beyond these regulatory pledges, Ferma has also said it will deliver certification for European risk managers in 2015. "With this initiative, we continue to promote professional risk management development, with the objective of providing a framework reference on risk management education and certification of risk and insurance managers from 2015," it said. As part of its 14 actions for 2015, Ferma has also promised to deliver a "high quality" risk management forum in Venice on 4 October to 7 October and begin work on its 2016 European Risk and Insurance Survey. It also plans to deliver a white paper on safety, health and security risk management for work-related international travel, and guidance on corporate governance Ferma will continue its push for diversity through development of its international women's network and the creation of networking and mentoring opportunities.

Ferma pledges to focus on EU regs in 2015 with captives, SII and ELD top targets

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