24 August 2015 Insurance

Fitch completes UK non-life insurance notching review

Rating agency Fitch has completed a review on a number of insurance groups within the UK non-life sector following its recently updated notching criteria for the insurance industry.

Fitch affirmed 25 ratings across six insurance groups within the UK non-life sector following the review.

Notching is the practice of establishing a given rating relative to a defined "anchor" rating, using guidelines linked to certain characteristics of the rating that is being notched.

For Fitch's insurance ratings, the insurer financial strength (IFS) rating is the initial anchor rating, and other ratings that are notched relative to it include issuer default ratings (IDRs) of operating and holding companies, and debt/hybrid obligation ratings.

Fitch updated its notching criteria due to changes the regulatory landscape, including the move in Europe and other jurisdictions to a Solvency II or a SolvencyII-type regulatory framework.

As a result, notching changes are more pronounced in Europe and other such jurisdictions than in the US and similarly regulated countries.

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