Amsterdam, 27 October 2014 – The Steering Committee of the EU-U.S. Insurance Project hosted on 25 October in Amsterdam a Forum dedicated to the evolution of group supervision. Attended by insurance professionals from around the world, the event provided an opportunity for exchange of views, suggestions and practices between insurance companies and supervisory authorities from both sides of the Atlantic.

The main purpose of the Forum was to highlight the initiatives of the EU-US Insurance Project on group supervision and the use of Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA). The Project parties expanded on their intention to develop a clear designation of responsibilities for group and solo supervisors within colleges. They are also going to formulate common high-level principles for transatlantic colleges. Furthermore, the Project plans to elaborate on common ORSA reporting elements for both EU and U.S., which would limit insurers duplicating of work on ORSA.

Gabriel Bernardino, Chairman of EIOPA, said: “During this Forum we demonstrated that from the level of mutual understanding in general we are making steps towards more concrete deliverables. I am happy to see this move. We have to think and act in line with the increasingly global environment we are living in. With the EU-U.S. Insurance Project we are on the right track”.

During the final session, the attendees learned about achievements and current activities of the EU-U.S. Insurance Project. The Project parties explained the updates that were recently made in the Project’s Way Forward document outlining the milestones to be achieved in the next years.

Note for Editors:

EU-U.S. Insurance Project started in early 2012, when the European Commission (EC), EIOPA, the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the Federal Insurance Office of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (FIO) agreed to participate in a deeper dialogue to contribute to an increased mutual understanding and enhanced cooperation between the EU and the U.S. to promote business opportunity, consumer protection and effective supervision.

The first Public Event of the EU-U.S. Insurance Project took place in December 2013 in Washington DC. Its purpose was to launch the initiatives set out in the Project: The Way Forward document on best practices/experiences of cooperation and coordination in supervisory colleges.

The Way Forward document was published by the EU-U.S. Dialogue Project in December 2012 and updated in August 2014. It contains common objectives and initiatives to be pursued through 2017. The document can be viewed on EIOPA’s website: http://goo.gl/RHTnvD