January 1st 2014 Solvency II implementation date official

The Solvency II implementation date has been announced as being the 1st of January 2014.

While the news was welcomed, some warned that there is still a significant amount of work to be done in order for the industry to comply in time.

“Although 1 January 2014 has been the proposed implementation date for a long time, the approval of this directive finally removes any possibility of regulators and insurers having to comply with Solvency II from 1 November this year as originally envisaged,” said Janine Hawes, director in the Solvency II technical group at KPMG.

“However, the failure to reach agreement on key issues on the Omnibus 2 proposals within the trilogue meetings held so far remains concerning. There are a number of significant issues yet to be resolved, including how to appropriately cater for the complexities of long-term guarantees within insurance contracts, how to deal with the issue of sovereign debt, and determining which of the range of transitional measures proposed will be taken forward. Time is running out if the Solvency II timetable just confirmed is to be met.

“We have already seen the critical European Parliament plenary vote on Omnibus 2 further delayed to 22 October, but the timing of this meeting will depend on when the trilogue process finally reaches an agreed position on the proposed Solvency II amendments.

“At the moment, it is not clear that this will be achievable before summer recess. Further delays in trilogue could potentially result in the Parliament’s vote being delayed again and ultimately result in either more transitional measures or even the need for a second date change directive.”