What effect is the quintessentially European Solvency II initiative having when examined from the multiple perspectives of the organisations it is impacting across Europe?

Will it increase the opportunities for regulatory arbitrage rather than decrease them as originally intended? Will European regulators step up to the challenge or have they bitten off more than they can chew? As the deadline approaches will all the good intentions be thrown aside in order to ‘just comply’?
 

These are some of the questions Atos, in association with Post Europe, set out to address when examining the implication of the new Solvency II regime across Europe. Research was conducted among the Chief Risk Officers and Chief Financial Officers of leading Insurance organisations based in Europe.

The research revealed that while the principles behind the EU Directive are welcomed, a host of practical concerns remain. These include:

1. Application across EU - The danger that, due to national regulatory bodies and national agendas, the new regulations will not be applied equally across the European Union
2. Resourcing - The demand for experienced actuarial and risk employees has generated recruitment and retention issues in the UK, which are seen to be spreading to the wider European market
3. Organisational change - The need of some insurance businesses to make major changes to their organisation and operating model in order to embed the regulations effectively
4. Adaptable rules - Uncertainty that the regulations may not be sufficiently ‘fluid’ to take account of ‘real world’ issues applied less stringently, will have a significant bearing on this.

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