Solvency II came into force on 1 January 2016. You can see the full directive, and read more about Solvency II from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.
Firms can apply for a Solvency II approval, a waiver or modification of rules, and find out about regulatory reporting under Solvency II.
Please see The National Archives for historic Solvency II information.
11 February: 25 February 2025: Industry Roundtable – CP19/24 Closing liquidity reporting gaps and streamlining Standard Formula reporting
Following the publication of consultation paper (CP) 19/24 – Closing liquidity reporting gaps and streamlining Standard Formula reporting the PRA would like to invite relevant stakeholders to join a hybrid roundtable on 25 February 11am – 12.30pm.
While the formal deadline to provide feedback to CP19/24 remains 31 March 2025, the roundtable will give interested stakeholders the opportunity to share initial observations on the proposals and seek clarifications in an open forum in advance of making bilateral written submissions.
Please submit any questions you may have in advance to CP19_24@bankofengland.co.uk with the subject ‘CP19/24 Roundtable’ before COB Wednesday 19 February.
How to participate
Please confirm your intention to attend the roundtable by emailing CP19_24@bankofengland.co.uk with the subject ‘CP19/24 Roundtable’ and include the relevant name(s) and email address(es) of proposed attendees, before COB Wednesday 19 February. We would welcome one attendee per organisation to attend in-person, with all other attendees attending virtually.
We will provide participants with the final agenda and Microsoft Teams joining instructions ahead of the meeting.
9 January 2025: We published a letter from Gareth Truran and Shoib Khan on the PRA’s 2025 priorities for insurance supervision.
1 November: PRA Regulatory Reporting (Taxonomy) roundtable 12 November 2024
The PRA will be holding an industry roundtable following the publication of the Bank of England Insurance Taxonomy v2.0.1. The purpose of this taxonomy-focused online roundtable is to provide a summary of the new taxonomy structure, and to highlight the new changes. The roundtable will be held on 12 November, 10am to 11.30am.
The affected organisations have been contacted. However, if you believe that your organisation would benefit from attending this event, please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es). We would welcome two attendees per organisation. Retained external advisors are welcome and are also limited to a maximum of two attendees (per firm).
Please send any questions that you wish to submit in advance to uktaxonomypwdfeedback@bankofengland.co.uk by close of business 7 November 2024, along with your intention to attend. The PRA will provide participants with joining instructions for Microsoft Teams for this online roundtable ahead of the meeting.
PRA CP5/24 (Review of Solvency II: Restatement of assimilated law) virtual roundtable 8 July 2024
The PRA will be holding an industry roundtable in respect of CP5/24 – Review of Solvency II: Restatement of assimilated law. The purpose of the roundtable is for the PRA to gather stakeholder views on key thematic issues relating to CP5/24, and to provide stakeholders (where possible) more clarity on policy proposals to assist with providing any planned responses to the consultation. The roundtable will be held on 8 July 2024, 10am to 12pm.
The agenda for this roundtable will be finalised and published in advance of the meeting. Please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es). We would welcome up to two attendees per organisation. Retained external advisors are also welcome and limited to a maximum of two attendees (per firm).
Please send any questions that you wish to submit in advance to Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk by close of business 28 June 2024, along with your intention to attend. We will provide participants with joining instructions for Microsoft Teams ahead of the meeting.
3 July 2024: Following queries the PRA has received in respect of the proposals in CP5/24 (CP5/24 – Review of Solvency II: Restatement of assimilated law), the agenda for the roundtable will be as follows:
As a reminder, please register your attendance by contacting Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk - up to two attendees per organisation.
13 May 2024: PRA/ABI industry subject expert groups on use of sandboxes in matching adjustment portfolios.
The consultation paper (CP) 19/23 – Review of Solvency II: reform of the matching adjustment set out the PRA’s proposed reforms that will enable broader and quicker investment by insurers within their matching adjustment (MA) portfolios, while improving responsiveness to risk and enhancing firms’ responsibility for risk management.
A number of responses to the consultation suggested that including ‘sandboxes’ of one form or another within MA portfolios would be beneficial. The PRA has established a subject expert group to consider these or similar proposals which could be used in the development of future policy on Matching Adjustment in ways that would advance the PRA’s statutory objectives and deliver clear benefits in line with the desired outcomes of the government’s review of Solvency II, in particular by materially increasing productive investment in the UK by the life insurance sector.
The group is co-chaired by representatives of the PRA and the Association of British Insurers. Organisations interested in sending a representative to the group should contact SandboxSEG@bankofengland.co.uk explaining their interest in the subject, what they feel they could contribute to discussions, the name of their nominated representative, and the latter’s qualifications to contribute effectively to the work of the group.
PRA Regulatory Reporting (Taxonomy) roundtable 14 May 2024
The PRA are looking to engage with industry following the publication of the Bank of England Insurance Taxonomy 2.0.0 and have organised a roundtable on regulatory reporting. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a summary of the new taxonomy structure, the new naming conventions and to highlight the new XBRL filing manual. The PRA would also like to understand industry’s implementation plans and we will take technology related questions. The roundtable will be held on 14 May, 10am to 11.30am.
The affected organisations have been contacted. However, if you believe that your organisation would benefit from attending this event, please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es). We would welcome two attendees per organisation. Retained external advisors are welcome and are also limited to a maximum of two attendees (per firm). Should you wish to submit questions in advance of the event, please supply these along with your response before 9 May to uktaxonomypwdfeedback@bankofengland.co.uk. Following this, we will issue the Microsoft Teams details to participants ahead of the meeting.
4 March 2024: The PRA are looking to engage with industry on developing liquidity reporting requirements through a roundtable with insurers and relevant stakeholders on Tuesday 19 March 2024, between 11am and 12pm.
The roundtable will cover:
The PRA’s initial focus will be on those firms with the largest derivatives exposures and potential for surrenders. However, all industry participants are free to nominate individuals to participate at the event. Please register to attend the hybrid event. Please note that deadline for registration is Wednesday 13 March 2024. This will be a hybrid event and we would encourage you to attend in person. Participation at the event is on a voluntary basis and the event joining details will be shared on registration. Further background to this work can be found on the Review of Solvency II: Reporting phase 3: liquidity reporting page.
11 January 2024: We published a letter from Charlotte Gerken and Shoib Khan on the PRA’s 2024 priorities for insurance supervision.
8 December 2023: We published a statement Solvency II Review – considerations for year-end 2023, relevant to PRA-regulated insurance firms.
15 November 2023: We published a statement on the recalculation of the Transitional Measure on Technical Provisions (TMTP) , relevant to PRA-regulated insurance firms.
30 October 2023: We published information on the outcomes of the annual DLT assessment for PRA relevant currencies, as conducted by the PRA in September 2023, on 'Deep, liquid, and transparent (DLT) assessments for January 2024 implementation'.
11 October 2023: Following the release of CP19/23 – Review of Solvency II: Reform of the Matching Adjustment, the PRA and ABI will be hosting two roundtables at the ABI offices (One America Square, London, EC3N 2LB):
The purpose of these meetings is to summarise the key aspects of the CP, provide guidance for firms’ submitting their formal CP responses, and take initial questions. PRA attendees will consist of technical policy colleagues and the meeting is expected to take place at a working level.
Please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es), specifying the attendees for each roundtable, including whether they will come to ABI’s offices or attend virtually. We would welcome two attendees per insurance organisation and one attendee per consultancy for each of the roundtables. The deadline for responses is 25 October. Following your response, we will issue the invitations, MS Teams dial-in details and agendas ahead of the meetings. If you have any particular questions on the proposals in the CP you would like covered in the sessions please send these through in advance.
28 September 2023: The PRA published CP19/23 – Review of Solvency II: Reform of the Matching Adjustment. This CP is the second PRA consultation needed to implement the conclusions of the Solvency II Review. It sets out the PRA’s proposed reforms that will enable broader and quicker investment by insurers in their MA portfolios. The PRA considers that by adapting the MA rules for the features of insurance business in the UK and the financing demands of the wider economy, the proposals will allow the life insurance sector to play a bigger role in productive investment in the UK economy, while continuing to offer their policyholders the level of security determined by legislation.
17 July 2023: We published a statement on the recalculation of the Transitional Measure on Technical Provisions (TMTP), relevant to PRA-regulated insurance firms.
5 July 2023: The PRA has given notice of a planned future update of one aspect of its Credit Risk Adjustment methodology in response to the cessation of USD Libor. See RFR updates due to Libor transitions.
30 June 2023: The PRA are looking to engage with industry following the release of the June CP and have organised a series of roundtables to cover three key areas: reporting requirements, TMTP and internal models. The purpose of these meetings is to signpost the relevant materials and field high level questions. Although the meetings have been organised so that firms have time to digest the paper, the roundtables are intended to compliment the CP’s messages ahead of organisations providing their responses. The dates for these roundtables are:
The affected organisations have been contacted. However, if you believe that your organisation would benefit from attending these events, please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es). We would welcome two attendees per organisation. Retained external advisors are welcome and are also limited to a maximum of two attendees (per firm). Should you wish to submit questions in advance of the event, please supply these along with your response before 5 July. Following this, we will issue the MS teams details to participants ahead of the meeting.
29 June 2023: The PRA published CP12/23 – Review of Solvency II: Adapting to the UK insurance market which sets out the PRA’s proposals to deliver significant reforms for Solvency II, which the PRA considers will lead to a more competitive and dynamic insurance sector in the UK, while maintaining high standard of policyholder protection.
20 February 2023: Sam Woods delivered a speech ‘Fundamental Spreads’, covering the Solvency UK reforms, highlighting reforms that support competitiveness and growth, and outlining our expectations on implementation of the reforms.
30 January 2023: Further to the previous update on the 10 January 2023, we have now published the updated Volatility Adjustment (VA) Reference Portfolios to be used for the SII Technical Information publications from 31 March 2023.
23 January 2023: We published the Insurance Stress Test 2022 letter. This letter sets out our findings on sector resilience and provides thematic observations that support improvements in risk management.
17 January 2023: On Friday 20 January 2023, the ABI, in conjunction with the PRA, will be hosting a Solvency UK reform industry engagement plenary to provide an overview of planned PRA engagement with industry from January 2023 onwards, in relation to the delivery of Solvency UK. This will consist of industry engagement groups focused on the reforms announced by the government as part of the 2022 Autumn Statement. Invitations to the meeting were sent out by the ABI on Friday 13 January. If you did not receive an invitation and would like us to consider your attendance, please contact Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk.
10 January 2023: There has been an unexpected delay in our publication of the Volatility adjustment (VA) reference portfolios to be used for SII Technical Information publications from 31 March 2023. We are working to address this and expect to publish the information shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
10 January 2023: We published a letter from Charlotte Gerken and Shoib Khan on the PRA’s 2023 priorities for insurance supervision.
6 January 2023: We published a statement on the recalculation of the Transitional Measure on Technical Provisions (TMTP), relevant to PRA-regulated insurance firms.
17 November 2022: We published FS 1/22 – Responses to DP 2/22 – ‘Potential Reforms to Risk Margin and Matching Adjustment within Solvency II.’
7 November 2022: The PRA published CP14/22 – ‘Review of Solvency II: Reporting phase 2’, which proposes to revoke retained EU Technical Standards for firms’ supervisory reporting and public disclosure under Solvency II, and to make new rules to amend and replace the retained EU Technical Standards. It also proposes amendments to the PRA’s expectations set out in Supervisory Statements (SS) relating to external audit of the public disclosure requirement, life insurance product reporting codes, and the national Specific Template LOG files.
25 July 2022: On Friday 15 July 2022, the PRA hosted a virtual roundtable to engage with Solvency II Technical Information (TI) industry users in order to: receive feedback on the first year and a half of operation; capture suggestions for improvement; and consider whether an SII TI users group should be established.
The PRA has been successful in producing and publishing the TI by the legal deadline of the 8th working day for quarterly publications, and for some time now has been achieving this by the 6th working day of each month. However, we did have comments from some of the firms that they were finding the later publication, relative to EIOPA, a challenge in the context of their reporting processes. We had explained that the publication timing reflected the many checks that were in place for the TI, including comparisons with the EIOPA results themselves. With this in mind, firm representatives confirmed that they would appreciate a compensating extension to their current reporting deadline. We looked into the practicalities of providing an extension to firms. However, upon investigating, we have identified that we do not presently have the powers to make such changes. In the meantime, individual firms could make a case to their supervisors if they were not able to meet the reporting deadlines.
We were pleased to hear that firms are content with the format of the TI publication templates, as these have been adapted from EIOPA’s so that firms were required to make minimal changes to their systems to use the rates. We did take a note that firms are having to regularly monitor the PRA publication webpages to know when to download our latest Excel templates, unlike for EIOPA which releases an intended publication date in advance. We will look into this as well, with a view to providing more support to firms.
We do plan to hold another virtual open roundtable sometime in the autumn, to further our engagement with the industry and to share results from the annual review of the Deep, Liquid and Transparent (DLT) assessment of the underlying market data that is fed into the TI production process.
12 July 2022:We published CP10/22 ‘Insurance special purpose vehicles: Further updates to authorisation and supervision’, which sets out our approach to authorising and supervising Insurance Special Purpose Vehicles.
8 July 2022:Sam Woods gives a speech at a Bank of England webinar, discussing opportunities to reform insurance regulation, to make it work better for the UK economy while safeguarding policyholders.
7 July 2022: We have been responsible for publishing the Solvency II Technical Information (SII TI) since Thursday 31 December 2020. On Friday 15 July 2022, we will be hosting a virtual roundtable between 1.30pm and 3pm. The purpose of the roundtable is to engage with industry users to receive feedback on this initial period of operation, to capture suggestions for improvement, and to consider whether an SII TI users group should be established.
The event will be relevant for all insurance firms. Representatives from industry bodies and advisors to firms are welcome to attend.
If you are interested in attending the PRA Industry Engagement Roundtable, please contact your relevant supervisor, and InsuranceData@bankofengland.co.uk. Dial-in details will be sent to attendees prior to the event.
7 July 2022: We published PS6/22 – Solvency II: definition of an insurance holding company, relevant to insurance firms within the scope of the Group Supervision Part of the PRA Rulebook and to the Society of Lloyd’s. The change to the Glossary Part of the Rulebook and the expectations set out in the updated SS9/15 will come into effect on Friday 7 July 2023.
6 July 2022: We published a statement on the recalculation of the Transitional Measure on Technical Provisions (TMTP), relevant to PRA-regulated insurance firms.
14 June 2022: Charlotte Gerken gives a speech at the JP Morgan European Insurance Conference, talking about the goals of competitiveness and productive investment, and the impact these are having on the Review of Solvency II. She says that changes to regulations for UK insurers could help to achieve these goals.
10 June 2022: On Friday 10 June, we launched a Data Collection Exercise (DCE) on the Matching Adjustment Fundamental Spread calibration (MA-FS), to further support the review of Solvency II. Please refer to Review of Solvency II: 2022 Data Collection Exercise (DCE) for further information
4 May 2022: Today we launched the PRA ‘Insurance Stress Test 2022 (IST 2022)’, relevant to the largest life and general insurers, to provide information about the impact of a range of stress scenarios on their business.
28 April 2022: Coinciding with HM Treasury’s consultation on the Solvency II Review, we published the following:
20 January 2022: We published a letter on the Insurance Stress Test 2022, requesting technical input by Thursday 17 March 2022.
12 January 2022: We published a letter from Anna Sweeney and Charlotte Gerken on the PRA’s 2022 priorities for insurance supervision.
12 January 2022: We published PS1/22 ‘Insurance business transfers’, relevant to PRA-authorised insurers, including the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents. It is also relevant to mutuals and friendly societies. The expectations in the SoP take effect on the date of publication of this PS on Wednesday 12 January 2022.
17 December 2021: We published PS29/21 ‘Review of Solvency II: Reporting (Phase 1)’, relevant to all UK Solvency II firms, the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents, insurance and reinsurance undertakings that have a UK branch (third-country branch undertakings), and firms within the PRA’s Temporary Permissions Regime (TRP) for (re)insurers. The policy as set out in the PS will take effect on Friday 17 December 2021. The modification by consent will also be made available for firms on the same date. The PRA Standards Instrument and the PRA Rulebook Instrument will be effective for quarterly and annual reporting reference dates falling on and after Friday 31 December 2021.
6 September 2021: Today we published CP17/21 ‘Solvency II: Definition of an insurance holding company’, relevant to insurance firms within the scope of the Group Supervision Part of the PRA Rulebook and to the Society of Lloyd’s. This consultation closes on Monday 6 December 2021.
13 August 2021: Today we published a letter from Charlotte Gerken: ‘Gathering information for the Solvency II Review: Qualitative Questionnaire’ , which introduces a qualitative questionnaire aimed at supporting the development of potential reforms, including cost benefit analysis, as part of the Government’s review of Solvency II.
4 August 2021: Today we published a letter from the PRA ‘Insurance Stress Test 2022 (IST 2022)’, relevant to the largest life and general insurers, setting out the high-level scope for the 2022 Insurance Stress Test exercise.
1 October 2021: We published information the outcomes of the annual DLT assessments for PRA relevant currencies, as conducted by the PRA in September 2021, on ‘Deep, liquid, and transparent (DLT) assessments for January 2022 implementation’.
28 July 2021: We published CP16/21 ‘Insurance business transfers’. This CP is relevant to all PRA-authorised insurers, including the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents. It is also relevant to mutuals and friendly societies. The consultation closes on Thursday 28 October 2021.
20 July 2021: We published a letter from Charlotte Gerken ‘Gathering data for the Solvency II Review’, and updated our Review of Solvency II: Quantitative Impact Survey (QIS) page, announcing its launch and providing more information to firms.
19 July 2021: We published a statement on the recalculation of the Transitional Measure on Technical Provisions (TMTP), relevant to PRA-regulated insurance firms.
8 July 2021: We published CP11/21 ‘Review of Solvency II: Reporting (Phase 1)’, relevant to all UK Solvency II firms, the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents, insurance and reinsurance undertakings that have a UK branch (third-country branch undertakings), and firms within the PRA’s Temporary Permissions Regime for (re)insurers. This consultation closes on Friday 8 October 2021.
16 June 2021: We launched the Review of Solvency II: Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) page, setting out information regarding our upcoming QIS which will support the review of Solvency II.
3 June 2021: We published PS12/21 ‘Solvency II: Deep, liquid and transparent assessments, and GBP transition to SONIA’ relevant to all UK Solvency II firms, including in respect of the Solvency II groups provisions, and to the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents. It contains an updated Statement of Policy ‘The PRA’s approach to the publication of Solvency II technical information’ and a report ‘Deep, liquid, and transparent (DLT) assessment of the Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) Overnight Index Swap (OIS) market’, which can be found on the Technical information for Solvency II firms page.
The new policy will take effect from the date of publication of this PS and updated SoP, Thursday 3 June 2021, except for the transition to the new GBP RFR, which will take effect from Saturday 31 July 2021.
31 March 2021: We published our review of Solvency II Effective Value Test parameters, applicable from 31 March 2021.
18 March 2021: We published PS2/21 ‘Solvency II: The PRA’s expectations for the work of external auditors on the matching adjustment’, which includes updates to SS11/16 ‘Solvency II: External audit of, and responsibilities of the governing body in relation to, the public disclosure requirement’.
This PS is relevant to UK Solvency II firms (including mutuals) that have approval to make use of the matching adjustment (MA). It is especially relevant to those firms that are subject to an audit requirement in respect of their Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR). The PS is also relevant for the auditors of such organisations and the users of these SFCRs.
The changes to SS11/16 will be effective from Thursday 1 July 2021, and the updated version will replace the existing version at that date. The new expectations set out in the updated SS will come into effect for audits in respect of accounting periods ending on or after Thursday 1 July 2021.
1 February 2021: We published a letter from Sid Malik on ‘Feedback on the application of the Effective Value Test’ to Chief Actuaries of PRA-regulated insurance firms.
7 January 2021: We published CP1/21 ‘Solvency II: Deep, liquid and transparent assessments, and GBP transition to SONIA’. This CP is relevant to all UK Solvency II firms, including in respect of the Solvency II groups provisions, and to the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents. Non-Directive firms are out of the scope of this CP. This consultation closes on Wednesday 31 March 2021.
2 December 2020: We published Policy Statement (PS) 24/20 ‘Solvency II technical information: The PRA’s proposed approach to the publication at the end of the transition period’, relevant to all UK Solvency II firms, including in respect of the Solvency II groups provisions, and to the Society of Lloyd’s and its managing agents. This includes a Statement of Policy (SoP) ‘The PRA’s approach to the publication of Solvency II technical information’.
13 November 2020: We published a letter on ‘Insights from PRA review work on reserving and exposure management’ to chief risk officers of PRA-regulated general insurance firms.
30 September 2020: We published our review of Solvency II Effective Value Test parameters, applicable from 30 September 2020.
30 July 2020: We published Consultation Paper (CP) 11/20 ‘Solvency II: The PRA’s expectations for the work of external auditors on the matching adjustment’, relevant to UK Solvency II firms that have approval to make use of the matching adjustment. The consultation will close on Friday 30 October 2020.
7 July 2020:We published a statement clarifying the PRA’s approach to the application of the matching adjustment during Covid-19.
30 June 2020: We published Consultation Paper (CP) 5/20 ‘Solvency II technical information: The PRA’s proposed approach to the publication at the end of the transition period’ alongside a draft Statement of Policy Opens in a new window on the same topic.
27 May 2020: We published Policy Statement (PS) 14/20 'Solvency II: Prudent Person Principle' alongside Supervisory Statement (SS) 1/20 ‘Solvency II: Prudent Person Principle’. Together they contain the PRA’s final policy for investment by Solvency II firms in accordance with the Prudent Person Principle as set out in Chapters 2 to 5 of the Investments Part of the PRA Rulebook.
30 April 2020: We published Policy Statement 10/20 ‘Solvency II: Group availability of subordinated liabilities and group preference shares’, including an update to Supervisory Statement 9/15 ‘Solvency II: Group supervision’.
2 April 2020: We published Policy Statement 9/20 ‘Solvency II: Income producing real estate loans and internal credit assessment for illiquid, unrated assets’, including an update to Supervisory Statement 3/17 ‘Solvency II: Matching adjustment - illiquid unrated assets and equity release mortgages’.
31 March 2020: We published our review of Solvency II Effective Value Test parameters, applicable from 31 March 2020.
16 March 2020: We published PS7/20 ‘Solvency II: Adjusting for the reduction of loss absorbency where own fund instruments are taxed on conversion’, including an update to Supervisory Statement SS3/15 ‘Solvency II: the quality of capital instruments’.
28 February 2020: We published a letter on ‘Outstanding EU liabilities following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union’ from Anna Sweeney, Executive Director of Insurance Supervision, to relevant PRA-regulated insurance firms.
15 January 2020: The Bank of England and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are preparing to publish regular, aggregated data relating to the UK Insurance market on a quarterly basis. We published a ‘call for feedback’ to inform potential users of such data and the proposed content and presentation, and to invite comment and feedback that may help shape the publication.
9 January 2020: We published Policy Statement 1/20 ‘Solvency II: Longevity risk transfers - simplification of pre-notification expectations’, including an update to Supervisory Statement 18/16 ‘Solvency II: longevity risk transfers’.
30 November 2019: Following publication of PS21/19 ‘Responses to CP13/19 Occasional Consultation Paper’, minor updates, corrections and clarifications to National Specific Templates, internal model output (IMO) templates and associated LOG files are now in effect. These are available on the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector page.
20 November 2019: We published a reminder to firms that new requirements, primarily in relation to loss-absorbing capacity of deferred tax (LACDT) calculations, will come into effect on Wednesday 1 January 2020.
For more information, please see ‘The PRA’s statement on the delegated regulation changes published by the European Commission’.
14 November 2019: We published:
12 November 2019: On Thursday 31 October 2019 the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published member state responses to its February 2019 ‘Recommendations for the insurance sector in light of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union’. The responses are available on EIOPA’s website.
The French regulator, Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), has indicated in its response that it does not intend to comply with EIOPA’s Recommendation 6, relating to insurance policies originally sold in the United Kingdom by UK insurers to policyholders now resident/established in France.
For more information please see the ‘PRA Statement on Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) response to EIOPA Recommendations for the Insurance Sector in light of the United Kingdom’s withdrawing from the European Union’.
31 October 2019: In January, the European Commission released its Call for Advice, setting out the scope of its Solvency II 2020 Review. On Wednesday 16 October, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published a consultation paper, setting out its proposed response to the European Commission’s Call for Advice, including proposed reforms to Solvency II. As part of this, EIOPA also launched a data request, the primary purpose of which is to test the impact of its proposed reforms.
Some industry participants may already be aware of this data request, and the PRA is in the process of contacting a number of firms directly. This notice promotes wider awareness of this voluntary data request, and the Solvency II 2020 Review more generally.
11 October 2019: We published Consultation Paper 26/19 ‘Solvency II: Adjusting for the reduction of loss absorbency where own fund instruments are taxed on conversion’. Responses to the consultation are requested by Monday 13 January 2020.
30 September 2019: We published PS21/19 ‘Responses to CP13/19 Occasional Consultation Paper’, which includes material relevant to Solvency II insurers.
27 September 2019: We published the following publications relevant to Solvency II insurers:
24 September 2019: We published PS18/19 and SS5/19 ‘Liquidity risk management for insurers’. These expectations come into effect from the date of publication.
18 September 2019: We published Consultation Paper 22/19 ‘Solvency II: Prudent Person principle’. Responses to the consultation are requested by Wednesday 18 December 2019.
16 September 2019: In line with Supervisory Statement 6/16 ‘Maintenance of the ‘transitional measure on technical provisions’ under Solvency II’, we have been monitoring market conditions since the previous biennial transitional measure on technical provisions (TMTP) recalculation (as at 31 December 2017), and also have been considering whether changes in market conditions since the end of June can reasonably be considered to have been sustained. In our view, if the current market conditions persist we would be willing to accept applications from firms to recalculate TMTP as at Monday 30 September 2019. In any application, we expect firms to be able to demonstrate that a material change in risk profile has occurred. This is relevant to all firms with current TMTP approval.
Firms should note that in order to expedite the application process, we would expect applications at this time to use firms’ existing TMTP calculation methodology. Applications received at this time would be in addition to the expected biennial TMTP recalculation as at Tuesday 31 December 2019.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with your usual supervision contact in the first instance.
1 August 2019: We published a letter ‘Proxy modelling survey: Best observed practice’ from Sid Malik, Head of Division for Life Insurance and Pensions Risk, to Chief Risk Officers of life insurers.
22 July 2019: We published Consultation Paper 16/19 ‘Solvency II: Group availability of subordinated liabilities and preference shares’. Responses to the consultation are requested by Monday 21 October 2019.
17 July 2019: We published a public working draft (PWD) of version 1.1.0 of the Bank of England Insurance XBRL taxonomy to support collection of the proposed changes to National Specific Templates (NSTs), internal model output (IMO), market risk sensitivities (MRS) and standard formula (SF) reporting, alongside related technical artefacts. The taxonomy, data point model (DPM) dictionary, annotated templates and validation rules represent the requirements for Solvency II as set out in CP13/19 ‘Occasional Consultation Paper’. We invite feedback, particularly from firms and software vendors, on the PWD of the taxonomy and DPM artefacts by Wednesday 7 August 2019. We will aim to publish the updated Insurance XBRL taxonomy by the end of October 2019. See the Technical artefacts and support section of the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector page for more information.
12 July 2019: We published a letter ‘Remuneration requirements – PRA findings and expectations’ from David Rule, Executive Director of Insurance Supervision, to the Chairs of Remuneration Committees of PRA-regulated insurers.
19 June 2019: We published a letter ‘Observations from recent regulatory reviews’ from Sid Malik, Head of Division for Life Insurance and Pensions Risk, to Chief Actuaries of life insurers.
18 June 2019: We published a letter and accompanying materials on the Insurance Stress Test 2019 which asks the largest regulated life and general insurers to provide information about the impact of a range of stress tests on their business. In addition, the stress test includes an exploratory exercise in relation to cyber underwriting and climate change. The set of climate scenarios explores the impacts to both firms' liabilities and investments stemming from physical and transition risks. The PRA will publish a summary of the overall results but no individual firm results will be made public. The deadline for submission is as follows:
7 June 2019: We published CP13/19 ‘Occasional Consultation Paper’ which contains proposals for minor updates to supervisory statements, and minor updates, corrections and clarifications to National Specific Templates (NSTs), internal model output templates, and associated LOG files.
22 May 2019: We published:
14 May 2019: We published a speech ‘Model use and misuse’ by David Rule, Executive Director of Insurance Supervision.
8 April 2019: We issued the following two updates on the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector page, relevant to Solvency II insurers:
3 April 2019: We published Consultation Paper 7/19 ‘Solvency II: Equity release mortgages - Part 2’ together with a letter from David Rule, Executive Director of Insurance Supervision.
1 April 2019: We issued the following two updates on the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector page, relevant to Solvency II insurers:
14 March 2019: We published an update on the EU withdrawal webpage aimed at firms looking to use the Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) insurance business transfers: Saving Provisions available in the Financial Services (Miscellaneous) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Any insurers with EEA business contemplating undertaking a Part VII and whose transfer is not already underway, should make immediate contact with their PRA supervisory contact, or email the PRA Part VII Transfers team at Portfolio.Transfers@bankofengland.co.uk.
14 March 2019: We published Policy Statement 9/19 ‘Solvency II: Group own fund availability’, and an updated Supervisory Statement 9/15 ‘Solvency II: Group supervision’.
5 March 2019: The Bank of England issued a news release ‘Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority agree Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with EIOPA and EU insurance supervisors’.
5 March 2019: We published Consultation Paper 4/19 ‘Liquidity risk management for insurers’. Responses are requested by Wednesday 5 June 2019.
20 February 2019: We published PS4/19 ‘Solvency II: Adjusting for the reduction of loss absorbency where own fund instruments are taxed on write down’, an updated SS3/15 ‘Solvency II: The quality of capital instruments’, and a reporting clarification.
13 February 2019: We published PS3/19 ‘PRA fees and levies: Changes to periodic and transaction fees’, including amendments to the PRA Fees part of the Rulebook and an update to SS3/16 ‘Fees: PRA approach and application’. These updates come into effect on Friday 1 March 2019.
7 February 2019: The Bank of England has updated the Solvency II XBRL filing manual to help firms and software vendors create XBRL instance documents for Solvency II Pillar 3 reporting in light of the EIOPA Solvency II Taxonomy 2.3.0 hotfix update. See Technical artefacts and support on the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector page. We are planning to publish a further update to the filing manual in Spring 2019, to include updates to the NST sections following publication of Policy Statement 21/18 ‘Solvency II: Changes to reporting format’. For reporting against the Bank of England insurance taxonomy, the Bank will adopt the same filing rules articulated for Solvency II reporting (in the Solvency II filing manual), where appropriate.
5 February 2019: We published Consultation Paper 3/19 ‘Solvency II: Longevity risk transfers - simplification of pre-notification expectations’. Responses are requested by Monday 6 May 2019.
5 February 2019: We published the ‘PRA response to DWP consultation paper: Defined benefit pension scheme consolidation’.
31 January 2019: We published the final direction and notification template for ‘Securitisation Regulation: PRA and FCA joint statement on reporting of private securitisations’. This is applicable to all UK established originators, sponsors and securitisation special purpose entities (SSPEs). This comes into effect from Thursday 31 January 2019.
15 January 2019: Following comments from firms and other industry participants on ‘Securitisation Regulation: PRA and FCA joint statement on reporting of private securitisations’, the final direction applicable to all UK established originators, sponsors and securitisation special purpose entities (SSPEs) has been delayed and will be published by the end of January 2019, rather than on Tuesday 15 January 2019 as originally specified.
31 December 2018: Following publication of PS21/18 ‘Solvency II: Changes to reporting format’, SS6/18 'Solvency II: National Specific Templates LOG files' and PS24/18 ‘Solvency II: Updates to internal model output reporting’, related templates and LOG files have been updated to reflect the Monday 31 December 2018 effective date. These are available on the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector page.
20 December 2018: Further to Policy Statement 29/18 ‘Securitisation: The new EU framework and Significant Risk Transfer’, we published a joint statement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), ‘Securitisation Regulation: PRA and FCA joint statement on reporting of private securitisations’. This direction is intended to apply to all UK established originators, sponsors and securitisation special purpose entities (SSPEs) from Tuesday 15 January 2019.
14 December 2018: EIOPA published its results report of the insurance stress test exercise. More information on the stress tests and timescales can be found on EIOPA's website.
10 December 2018: We published a letter from David Rule, Policy Statement 31/18 ‘Solvency II: Equity release mortgages’ together with an updated SS3/17 ‘Solvency II: Matching adjustment - illiquid unrated assets and equity release mortgages’. The policy will take effect from 31 December 2019.
15 November 2018: We published final policy on ‘Securitisation: The new EU framework and Significant Risk Transfer’, including the following policy for Solvency II firms:
13 November 2018: We published templates A and B as required under Article 31(2) of the Solvency II Directive. The information is available on the ‘Solvency II templates for the disclosure of aggregate statistical data year-end 2017’ webpage and accurate for year-end 2017 as at 21 August 2018. These supplement ‘Solvency II: Supervisory disclosures, PRA’s supervisory approach and insurance regulations applicable in the UK year-end 2017’, published on 21 August 2018.
This public disclosure is designed to foster a uniform level of transparency and accountability between supervisory authorities.
8 November 2018: Following the letter from Anna Sweeney ‘Market conditions facing specialist general insurers: Feedback from recent PRA review work’ , we received responses from firms, which supervisors have followed up individually with the CEOs of Category 1-3 firms operating in the London Market. The letters included our overall impression of the market’s reaction to our letter, a version of which is presented with the letter.
The changes to the reporting format will be effective for submissions of year-end 2018 information, from Monday 31 December 2018 onwards. For further information and materials, see the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector webpage.
We also published a letter ‘Solvency II: Two and half years on’ to Chief Actuaries of life insurers from Sid Malik, Head of Division of the PRA Life Insurance and Pensions Risk Division.
12 July 2018: We published final policy and a consultation related to Solvency II groups:
Responses to CP15/18 are requested by Monday 12 November 2018.
On Friday 6 July we published Policy Statement 16/18 'Changes in insurance reporting requirements' relevant to all UK Solvency II firms, the Society of Lloyd's and its managing agents and mutuals. This includes updates to rules, Supervisory Statement (SS) 6/18 'Solvency II: National Specific Templates LOG files' which includes updates to National Specific Template LOG files, and an update to SS11/15 'Solvency II: Regulatory Reporting and exemptions' which includes a modification by consent.
29 June: In Consultation Paper 27/17 'Solvency II: Internal models update' we had planned to issue the final policy to take effect from June 2018. We are currently finalising the policy with a view to publishing it shortly.
29 June: In April 2018, we published CP11/18 'Solvency II: Changes in reporting format'.
In CP11/18 we proposed to change the reporting format from Microsoft Excel workbooks to XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) standards for:
The consultation period is now closed. We received one response. In addressing the feedback received we are keen to ensure firms have a sufficient period to implement proposed changes for year-end 2018 reporting (for year-ends 31 December 2018 onwards). Please see the Regulatory reporting – insurance sector webpage for a table with planned dates for the availability of required information.
12 June: Following engagement with insurers about Supervisory Statement (SS) 3/17, the PRA is planning to consult on an update to the SS that would build on the four key principles currently set out by providing additional clarity about the PRA's expectations for valuation of the no-negative-equity guarantee for the purpose of the effective value test and on the applicability of Transitional Measures on Technical Provisions. We expect to publish the consultation around the end of June or first half of July.
On Wednesday 6 June we published a letter from Sam Woods to the Chair of the Treasury Committee regarding the Solvency II risk margin.
On Thursday 31 May we published a Letter from Anna Sweeney ‘Market conditions facing specialist general insurers: Feedback from recent PRA review work’, addressed to Chief Executives of specialist general insurance firms regulated by the PRA. The letter requests a summary of firms’ responses on the issues raised by Friday 27 July 2018 from PRA Category 1, 2 or 3 firms predominantly operating in the London Market.
On Tuesday 22 May we published Consultation Paper 12/18 ‘Securitisation: The new EU framework and Significant Risk Transfer’, relevant to all PRA-authorised Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV) firms and all Solvency II firms. This consultation closes on Wednesday 22 August 2018.
On Thursday 17 May we published Policy Statement 10/18 'Financial management and planning by insurers', relevant to all UK insurance firms and groups in scope of the Solvency II Directive, and to the Society of Lloyd's and managing agents.
14 May: We are holding a Chief Actuary Forum for general insurers on Monday 2 July targeted at holders of Senior Insurance Management Function (SIMF) 20 Chief Actuary. Please register by Friday 15 June. If you have any queries, please contact PRAeventsmanagement@bankofengland.co.uk.
On Friday 20 April, we published two consultations related to Solvency II regulatory reporting:
Please see Regulatory reporting - insurance sector for more general information on Solvency II regulatory reporting, including templates and instructions.
On Thursday 12 April, we published a letter 'Capital extractions by insurance firms in run-off' addressed to CEOs.
On Wednesday 11 April 2018 we published two consultation papers (CP) relevant to those working in, or with, Solvency II firms. Both consultations close on Wednesday 11 July 2018:
On Monday 5 March 2018 we gave a presentation on PRA internal model outputs for general insurers at the PRA. The following presentation slides used at the event are available below.
Feedback on data quality and expectations for YE2017
Potential changes to data collection YE2018
On Wednesday 7 February 2018, the Bank of England Electronic Data Submission (BEEDS) user guide was updated to incorporate changes that have been made as part of ongoing system maintenance, as well as important information regarding account practices. For more information, see Regulatory reporting: insurance sector page.
On Wednesday 17 January 2018 we issued an invitation to a briefing taking place on Monday 5 March 2018 to general insurers who submit the internal model outputs to us annually. As places are limited, we are offering one space per firm, with registration closing on Friday 16 February 2018. Information about the briefing on ‘PRA internal model outputs for general insurers’, including how to register, is available on the Bank's event website.
On 11 January 2018, the PRA published Consultation Paper 2/18 ‘Changes in insurance reporting requirements’. This CP is the third and final consultation referred in the News Release of 25 October 2017. Information, templates and guidance on reporting are available on our Regulatory reporting: insurance sector page.
This report is a quarterly statistical release of aggregated data, produced using PRA regulatory data supplied by UK authorised insurance firms.
The insurance aggregate data quarterly report and data file are scheduled to be updated on:
This report is an annual statistical release of aggregated data, produced using PRA regulatory data supplied by UK authorised insurance firms.
The insurance aggregate data annual report and data file are scheduled to be updated on: